Podcasts about before abraham

Scripture Reading: John 10:30-42 In the discourses between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, in the gospel of John, we are brought into the glories and mysteries of the infinite God.  Jesus says things that can only be true if He is God in human flesh.  "Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise" (Jn 5:19).  "Before Abraham was, I am" (Jn 8:58).  On both occasions, the Jews wanted to put Jesus to death. In today's passage the leaders had the same reaction to the same implication in what Jesus was saying.  The implication in Jesus' words was His equality with God and the reaction is a desire to kill Him.  Referring to God as His Father, Jesus says, "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30). This is not to say that the Son and the Father are one person, but one entity.  We can, and must, distinguish between the Father and the Son, but we cannot, and must not, separate them.  In John 10:38 Jesus says, "The Father is in me and I am in the Father." The mystery of the Trinity is that there are three persons in one Godhead.  There are three distinct persons, but with such a unity that there is only one God. Lest we think that this mysterious doctrine is irrelevant to our lives, Jesus connects the unity of the Godhead with our salvation and our eternal security.  He follows the declaration "I give them eternal life and they will never perish" with "no one will snatch them out of my hand" … "no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand.  I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:28-30).  Our everlasting safety rests on the union of God the Father and God the Son.  Can there be any greater reason for us to feel safe, both now and forever?

* The Gospel according to John: John's presentation of Jesus as the Son of God who became the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, in order to strengthen and unify the church around this core belief. * Over the past four weeks, we have considered the powerful declarations of Jesus regarding His divinity during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. * Over the past two weeks, we have considered His declaration that He was YHWH through the metaphorical declaration: I AM the Light of the World and the Literal declarations: Unless you believe I am I AM, you will die in your sins; When you exalt the Son of Man, you will know I am I AM; and, finally, Before Abraham was, I am I AM! * Today, we see Jesus, the Light of the World, perform a distinctly Messianic Miracle - giving sight to a blind man ... bringing light into this man's darkness (cf. Isaiah 29:18; 32:3-4; 35:5; 42:6-7, 16; 43:8) * This message was presented on July 18, 2021 by Bob Corbin.

“Knowing” Movie Talk To understand the movie "Knowing" David explains; "There is no past, present and future construct. That was made up by the ego, to cover over the present moment, which is before time was. Before Abraham was, I am Jesus taught 2000 years ago. Jesus says in the course, we are reviewing mentally, what is already gone by. So of course, if you believe the body is life. If you believe in organic and biological life, If you believe the flesh is alive and not just a bunch of images. Then, you believe in the loss of life like in plane crashes, tsunamis, floods, and tragedy. But it's really the belief in the ego, which is a belief in separation from your creator that is the tragedy. It's a belief in your mind. It's not on the screen, because it made the screen. It made all those bodies, it literally peopled the world. It made everything of time and space as a defense against the truth of love. The truth of Christ, the truth of God. But I can tell you everything converges in the miracle because the miracle simply helps you see the false as false. The miracle does show you that the past is past and gone. If you are interested to know more about David Hoffmeister and Living Miracles events, here is more information: https://circle.livingmiraclescenter.org/events. Here is the full movie talk for you to enjoy https://www.spreaker.com/user/davidhoffmeister/movie-knowing-dependence-on-god-movie-workshop Read A Course in Miracles online here: https://acourseinmiraclesnow.com/ Learn more about David Hoffmeister here: https://davidhoffmeister.com

Movie 'Knowing' - "Dependence on God" Movie Workshop with David Hoffmeister - Awakening from the Dream Weekend Online RetreatTo understand the movie "Knowing" David explains; "There is no past, present and future construct. That was made up by the ego, to cover over the present moment, which is before time was. Before Abraham was, I am Jesus taught 2000 years ago. Jesus says in the course, we are reviewing mentally, what is already gone by. So of course, if you believe the body is life. If you believe in organic and biological life, If you believe the flesh is alive and not just a bunch of images. Then, you believe in the loss of life like in plane crashes, tsunamis, floods, and tragedy. But it's really the belief in the ego, which is a belief in separation from your creator that is the tragedy. It's a belief in your mind. It's not on the screen, because it made the screen. It made all those bodies, it literally peopled the world. It made everything of time and space as a defense against the truth of love. The truth of Christ, the truth of God. But I can tell you everything converges in the miracle because the miracle simply helps you see the false as false. The miracle does show you that the past is past and gone. If you are interested to know more about David Hoffmeister and Living Miracles events, here is more information: https://circle.livingmiraclescenter.org/events.Recorded on July 3, 2021, in Chapala, Mexico.

Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there. (Deuteronomy 16:2) 40 God has not chosen to put His Name in any denomination. I want the Scripture for it, if it is. I know they claim He has, but He hasn't. He cannot put His Name in many places, because He said He put His Name in one place. And, that one place, each one of our denomination wants to say they are that place, but it's contrary. But where did He put His Name? 41 Now, and, He, what is His Name, first? We'll have to (Name) find what God's Name is before we can find what it is He is putting in the place. Now, we find out that He had many titles. He is called the…He was called “Father,” which is a title. And He was called “Son,” which is a title. He was called “Holy Ghost,” which is a title. He was called “Rose of Sharon,” which is a title. “Lily of the Valley,” a title, “Morning Star.” “Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-rapha,” seven different, compound, redemptive names, and all of them were titles. None of them were names. But He has a Name. 42 When He met Moses, He had not a Name yet, and He told Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.” And when we see Jesus on earth, speaking in Hebrews the 6th chapter…I beg your pardon, Saint John the 6th chapter. He said, “I AM THAT I AM.” They said, “Why, You're a Man not over fifty years old, and say that You ‘seen Abraham'?” 43 He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” And “I AM” was the One, the burning bush, the Pillar of Fire that was in the burning bush back in the days of Moses, the “I AM THE I AM.” 44 And now we find out that Jesus said, also, “I came in My Father's Name, and you received Me not.” Then, the Name of the Father must be Jesus. That's right. The Name of the Father is Jesus, 'cause Jesus said so. “I carry My Father's Name. I come in My Father's Name, and you received Me not.” Then, His Name was Jesus. And Gabriel called Him Jesus, the prophets called Him Jesus, and He was absolutely Jesus. Before His birth, even the holy prophet called His Name Emmanuel, which is, “God with us.” Then, “God was manifested in the flesh, in order to take away the sin of the world,” and, in doing so, He was given the Name of Jesus. So, Jesus is the Name. And the Name was placed in a Man; not a church, not a denomination, not a creed, but a Man! He chose to place His Name in Jesus Christ. Now we find out that then He becomes the place of God's worship, where you worship Him. 45 Ever before He was even born, His Name was called Jesus. It was so important, it was give to His mother by the Angel Gabriel, that His Name would be called “Jesus, Son of God,” what He was. 46 There we have it, then. This is it, alone. It is, for Him alone, God's chosen place of worship. God's place, chose. God chose to meet man; was not in a church, not in a denomination, not in a creed, but in Christ. That's the only place that God will meet a man, and he can worship God, is in Christ. That's the only place. No matter if you're Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Protestant, whatever you might be, there is only one place that you can correctly worship God, that's in Christ. Romans 8:1, said, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, that walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” That's the Gospel. 65-0220 - "God's Chosen Place Of Worship" Rev. William Marrion Branham ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Order your own copy of the Family Altar at http://store.bibleway.org Appreciate what we do? Consider supporting us: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/support --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/ten-thousand-worlds/support

IntroductionSo we are going through the book of John line by line, paragraph by paragraph. Why do we do that? Because we believe these words of God reveal Jesus to us.John reveals the nature of Jesus. And under this heading of the nature of Jesus, there are many interesting things BUT one main thing.The main thing we learn in the book of John is that Jesus is God, and today we see perhaps the most clear declaration of that anywhere in the Bible.Now before we even move an inch into this text, we need to stop and consider the implications of what we just said. If Jesus is God, you know what we owe him? A blank check. Whatever you want, it's yours. Are you willing right now to do that? Whatever comes out of this message today, so long as it's an accurate representation of what the Bible says, we all need to come with the attitude of, okay I will do it.I want to challenge you to do that right now. Do you trust God enough to commit to obey him, without knowing what he will ask of you, simply because he is God? Let's begin this message right now by giving God a blank check.ReviewLet's recap from last week. Last week we observed that in the genetic world, your biological parents give you your physical traits. Eye color, when your hair falls out, your height, etc. Last week we learned that the same is true in the spiritual world. We have spiritual parents that give us spiritual traits. Jesus said, based on your traits, "You've got one of two fathers. Either your father is the devil or your father is God.If your father is the devil you will hate Jesus. That's the trait.If your father is God, you will love Jesus. That's the trait.The Jews hated Jesus. They possessed the trait of Hate.The reason the religious leaders hated Jesus was because he exposed their evil deeds.How did he do this? You'll remember from last week. He starts by telling them, “You are not free. You are all slaves of sin.”Now I want to point out something that we didn't really mention previously. Who does Jesus say this to? Throughout chapter 7 and 8 Jesus is milling around as you would at a feast and interacting with various groups of people. It's not a sustained interaction with one set of people. Right before our text, we are told that Jesus had just finished a message and the main point of the message was this:And then look at what is says in verse 30.There was a group of people who heard Jesus say, you will die in your sins unless you believe in me. And so they said, okay, we believe. Jesus turns to THIS GROUP of PEOPLE (these believers) and says, “You are slaves of sin.”Remarkable! What this should tell you is that there is a way to ‘believe in Jesus' that is not truly belief. There is a way to agree around the edges and miss the center. There is a way to deceive yourself that because I am religious, I must be a child of God BUT in reality I am a child of the devil.It's not hard to imagine that to a group of proudly religious folk, this is not flattering. Excuse me? Come again? We are the followers of Abraham! If you're going to talk about slaves of sin, talk to the drug dealers, child traffickers, politicians, celebrities, corrupt CEO's, people in Vegas. They're slaves to money and sex, drugs and power. They're into all that. Jesus, you have the wrong crowd. We're good people. We're moral people. We're religious people. How in the world can you talk to us about being spiritual slaves?You want to know what his answer is. Jesus says, “The reason I know you are slaves of sin is because you don't love me.” Now the fact that Jesus can say this to a religious people reveals a frightening truth. The devil loves playing church. The devil's children are in the church. The devils children can be leading the church. It's frightening.You see, the spiritual trait God's looking for is not church attendance, it's not bible reading. It's not being moral and having family values. It's not dressing a certain way. The trait that Jesus is looking for is love for him. That's the ultimate trait.Now as the text advances, we see this tremendous clash. This collision of opposites. The Jews represent hate. Jesus represents great. We see great and hate collide. Oil and water. Black and white.Now for the purpose of today's message we are going to paint the contrast as sharply as possible. Last week was sons of the devil - the traits of hate. This week is the son of God - the traits of being great.We've got six of them. You can mark it down. A historic moment where we've deviated from a three point outline. You can all make t-shirts, “I was present at service with a six point message.”So right after Jesus has accused them of not being able to hear God's Word because they are children of the devil, they throw the accusation back in his face. You want to talk about devils. You are the one with a devil. You are the one who is insane.Now look at Jesus' response.Jesus says, “I don't have a demon.” And then he gives a piece of evidence. If someone accused you of having a demon, what evidence would you submit to deny it? He says, the evidence that I don't have a demon is that I honor the father. In other words, the one who honors the father is great. In an honor/shame culture, nothing could be worse than not honoring your father.Now what he says next is totally unexpected. Here's what you are to catch. Jesus is pointing to evidence.He says, “I am of God because I honor God…” and you would expect him to then say,“You are of the devil because you do not honor God.”But instead he says, “You are of the devil because you do not honor me.”Now you have to be able to open your ears to hear the strangeness of this.Here's an example that might help you hear it: My dad's birthday is coming up on July 24th. And I say to you, “Hey you really ought to honor my dad. I'm honoring him by giving him a gift. You know, he's a great guy. You ought to honor him as well. Why don't you stop by my house and give me that gift as a way to honor him.” That's the logic Jesus is using.What you need to realize about John 7 and 8 is that Jesus is crescendoing in his clarity about who he is claiming to be.I am the living water.I am the light of the world.He's taking these highly charged symbols and applying them to himself. But there's ambiguity.Now he looks them square in the face and says. I am of God because I honor the father. You can evidence being of God if you honor me.Now that crescendo is going to grow. Why is Jesus great? First because he honors the father, second he doesn't seek his own glory.Every good Jew knows that we are not supposed to be glory hogs. Glory BELONGS to God. Now we all feel the temptation to take it for ourselves but we all know we are NOT supposed to do it. So Jesus points to this as evidence of greatness.I don't seek my own glory. Now there's a really well known passage in Philippians 2 called the kenosis passage. Here's why it's called that. Kenosis is the Greek word for empty. Paul is speaking to the Philippians and says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.” That word conceit is actually a compound word in the Greek.It's the word keno doxia. Keno(sis) means empty and doxia means glory. So he's saying when you try to seek your own glory, when you are conceited, it's empty glory. Why? Because it comes from you. That's what Jesus is saying. I don't seek empty glory…glory that comes from me proclaiming myself.So what's the way that Jesus received glory? He says someone else is seeking it for me. In Philippians 2 we see in verses 6 and 7 it says that Christ did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself.There it is again. It's the word kenosis. Empty.To be exalted, Christ had to condescend. To be elevated he had to be crushed. You want to know the greatest evidence of greatness? It's emptying yourself of glory. What was Jesus like before he came to earth? How beautiful was he? Not one of us has a clue. Whatever we imagine it to be, it was billions of times better than that. And he emptied himself of all that glory and became a man.That's the evidence of greatness. Jesus does not seek his own glory. Then he says, “But there is one who does.” Implied. God seeks it. And that's exactly what we see happen at the end of Philippians. After Jesus was crucified, the ultimate emptying…Okay, that's the principle. And we see it now in retrospect. But for the people in the story, this hasn't happened yet. Jesus simply says, “I don't seek my glory. There is one who seeks my glory (implied God).”The shocking part of Jesus' words is not that he doesn't seek his own glory (they all would have agreed with this) but that God is seeking it for him.Consider this analogy: During a wedding, who's supposed to be the center? The bride. You'd be an absolute moron to stand up in the middle of a wedding march, run into the aisle and take a selfie. People would just gasp at how inappropriate that would be. Why? Because how dare you try to become the center of attention during a wedding. You're not supposed to seek your own glory. Why? Because in that moment, the bride is to receive all the glory.Jesus says, “I seek the glory of the Father. I would never obstruct people's view of the Father.” Jesus says, “The one who truly honors the father won't steal the glory show.” That makes sense. But what does not make sense is what he says next. And you want to know what the father is going to do with the honor I give him? He's going to honor me with it. Imagine the bride walking down the aisle and stopping midway and turning to her bridesmaid and saying, “The real person we should be honoring here is my bridesmaid.” And she uses that moment to spotlight her friend.That's what Jesus is saying, “I'm honoring the father, but the Father is seeking to honor me. There is one who seeks my glory.” It's no wonder they accuse him of madness. Now if that wasn't enough (again we are crescendoing) look at what comes next.Now I'm not sure you can make a claim of greatness larger than this. I mean, this is so over the top. I mean this is so lofty you get high altitude nose bleeds just thinking about it.Okay, now we are getting serious. I picture some bending down to pick up stones at this point. I picture them fingering those stones with white knuckles.You will never see death? Never taste death? Now we are clearly into the territory of blasphemy. God is the author of life. Only God can raise the dead. This is outright ridiculous. And they just blurt out their retort.I had a friend once that was accustomed to exaggeration and it really bugged me. He was boasting about these tall cliffs he was jumping off. He said, “Man, I just launched off this 250'.” And I said, "Really, so it was taller than the golden gate bridge? '' I was decently certain my freshman roommate didn't just break the world record for highest cliff jumping ever. I just called him out in front of all his friends.This is how the Jews are responding to Jesus. Jesus, stop it. You are being ridiculous now. Nobody can beat death. Not one great person we know that has ever walked the earth has conquered death. We can point to all their graves.We've been to the grave of Abraham. He died.His son Isaac. Right by his side.Jacob, Joseph. Piles of bones carried from Egypt.David? Bones.Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel…Pick a prophet. Bones.No matter how great, no matter how honored by God, no matter how holy, godly, favored. Bones.No man has power over death. Are you greater than Abraham and all the prophets and every human being that has ever lived? WHO IN THE WORLD DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?Jesus says, ah, now you are finally asking the right question.Look at his response.This issue on the table is glory. Jesus says, “I'm not seeking glory for myself.” We all know that God alone is due all the glory, all the honor, all the praise.It's wrong for men to seek their own glory. That part is expected. The part that is totally unexpected and totally horrifying is the next part.My Father glorifies me.We can find all sorts of places in the Bible where it talks about God loving us. God listening to our prayers. God being compassionate toward us. But where can you think of, where it says that God glorifies us? Nowhere.Why? Because God doesn't share his glory with others. He's made that point rather clear in Isaiah 42.Now, keep in mind the context. Jesus just claimed to have power over death. And in response to that claim the Jews say… Wha-wha-what did you just say? Who in the world do you think you are?Jesus says, “Well let's let the one whom you say is God answer. Who am I? God himself says I'm a co-glory sharer with Him.” He's appealing to an authority they respect.It's like a guy saying, “I think I'm a pretty good writer.” And his friends say, “No you're not.”"Oh yeah? You say that C.S. Lewis is the greatest writer of all time. C.S. Lewis himself said that there was no writer greater than me.That's the idea. You claim that YHWH is your God? You claim that YHWH calls the shots and is Lord of all things? Great. YHWH validates who I am. YHWH shares his glory with me. He glorifies me. I mean you can picture the bulging veins, the red necks, the steam just coming out the ears.Now he takes it a step further.Jesus says, the ultimate trait of being great is knowing God. And that's what makes you so problematic. You don't know him.In English we have one word for know. But in many other languages there is more than one so that a distinction can be made between knowing ABOUT someone and truly knowing them.I know about Elon Musk. I do not know him. Jesus says, “you know about God. You do not know God.” What's the difference? What really makes a relationship such that it moves from knowing about God to knowing God.There's a closeness of relationship where it's no longer about facts and ideas or even opinions. It's about feelings and emotion and longing and connection and love. There's been times when it's been my wife's birthday or our anniversary and someone will say, “What did you get Lisa for her birthday or what did you do for your anniversary?” And I'll say, “Well, I got her a vacuum and we went tent camping.” And people look at me like I'm the worst husband ever. Why didn't you buy her flowers and take her downtown to a hotel. And I can say with confidence, “You don't know my wife. You think that's what my wife wants? You don't know my wife.”The Jews say we don't know a lot but we know two things:“We know that we love God.”“And we also know that we hate you.”Jesus says, “Well, then you don't know God.”Now I mentioned the crescendo here: Here's where it's all heading.You want to know how I know him? You want to know why it's impossible to say you love God and hate me? Because I am the God you claim to love.Now the way he reveals this is spine-tingling.Everything culminates here: We said all of chapter 7 and 8 is crescendoing. Here's the climax. Here's the cymbal crash. There's been all this talk about spiritual parents and lineage. We are children of Abraham. Blah. Blah. And Jesus cuts through all of it and he says very directly, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day.” Now of course, the claim is so audacious, it is disorienting. It rocks the listener on his heels. What is he really claiming here?What is Jesus claiming when he says this? “Abraham rejoiced to see my day” What day is he referencing? Abraham just like every other warm blooded Jew was looking forward to a Day. Every prophet foretold of it. It's what the prophets refer to as the Day of the Lord or sometimes just day.What is that day? It's the day the Lord comes back. It's a day of both judgment and blessing. And for Abraham, that promised blessing would come through an offspring of his son. So Abraham thinking about this future day of blessing was thinking about his great, great, great…grandchild Messiah.The Jews are just picking their jaws up off the ground. Is he really claiming what I think he is? The answer is yes. Jesus is literally saying, I'm the fulfillment of all of Abraham's hopes for salvation. Jesus is saying, "I'm what Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets looked forward to.“My coming is the ultimate coming.My day is the ultimate day.I bring the promised salvation.I am the promised fulfillment."And the Jews can't believe it. Is he really saying this? So they ask a clarifying question? Oh really, so you knew Abraham? Did you? Oh, that's very cute. And I think at this point they would expect him to back down. No of course I didn't literally know Abraham. Of course I couldn't have literally known him because I'm only 30 years old. I'm speaking metaphorically. That's what they would have expected. But instead he says,Before Abraham was I am. Now notice the grammar here is totally incorrect. He doesn't say - Before Abraham was, I was. That's what you would expect.The tenses are all wrong. It's like saying, before my parents got married, I am eating. What are you saying? It's the most nonsensical answer unless it has another meaning… which of course it does.Now they understand this alternate meaning perfectly because they absolutely erupt in rage and pick up stones to crush in his head. Why? Because they know what he meant. He's claiming to be God.We talked about this a few weeks ago. Do you remember this slide?When Jesus said earlier, unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins, the word he is implied. It's just EGO EIMI. I am.Back in verse 24 it was a little ambiguous. Is he saying, “I am the light of the world. I am Messiah” or was he saying he was the great I am of Isaiah 40-45? But now here, it's obvious. He clarifies beyond a shadow of a doubt what he meant in verses 24 and 28. When Jesus says Before Abraham was, I AM, their minds immediately race back to Exodus 3, where Moses met God in the burning bush. Moses says, “Who are you? What is your name? Who should I say has sent me?” God says, “I AM THAT I AM.”That was the name of God. The consonants of that phrase I am that I am are consonants YHWH which is where we get the word Yahweh, the name of God all through the Bible. What does it mean?When you say, “I am” and then just stop… Your mind can't stand that. Your mind just longs for an object. You are what? That's the point.I just am. I am uncaused. I am the cause of all causes.I'm not just beyond time. I am time.I'm not just beyond space. I am space.Before the universe was, I am. I am self-existent.Unlike the gods of Egypt or Mesopotamia or Asia, I simply am.I have no need. I have no lack. I have no want.And as it relates to you I am EVERYTHING you need.I am the light of the world.I am the bread of life.I am the living waters.I don't exist. I am existence. I am everything. Jesus, without question, in the most clear and concise and direct possible way is claiming to be YHWH God.To our American mind at first blush it just feels like strange grammar and we shrug our shoulders and move on. But I'm telling you, this is just chilling. It's either a moment of utter blasphemy deserving the full force of the stones in their fingers or it's a moment of utter worship. Take your pick.ApplicationNow that's where the passage ends. I feel like this passage deserves a round of applause. It's so incredible. But now it's time for us. The cross hairs move from the Jews to us.If Jesus were here today, I think he would look at us and say, “You claim to believe. You are here at church. Do you?” And to some in this room, he would definitely say, “You claim to love me, but you don't know me.”Let me explain how I think this could be possible that Jesus could say this very same thing to people coming to this church. You don't know me.Christian Smith was a sociologist at Notre Dame who did this giant research project to try to pin down what was happening to the teenagers that were coming out of the church 20 years ago.He wrote a book called souls in transitions where he made the claim that a generation was thinking about Jesus in a new way, a way that was different than had been conceived for the past two thousand years. And he put a name to it. He called it moralistic therapeutic deism.moralistic - Christianity gives you values and prevents you from being evil.therapeutic - it helps me with my problemsdeism - God is out there but isn't personalNo longer is the idea that Christ is my king I will surrender to him and he will be enough regardless of life's circumstances. That idea is driven out and been replaced instead by a belief system that has Jesus' name on it…it has the Christian brand but the intent and purpose of your life has to do with therapy…making you feel better.If you are coming here today because you want to fix your marriage or you want your kids to be happy or because you want to be a better manager of your money or you want God to heal your pain and that's the only reason you are coming, then you don't know God. You are a moralistic therapeutic deist.You want to know what the main problem was for these people in the passage who ‘believed' in Jesus? They were using Jesus to get what they wanted. They didn't love HIM.They loved the fish.They loved the bread.They loved the idea of him overthrowing Rome.They loved him roasting the self-righteous Jews.But they didn't love him. How is it possible in today's church to be a Christian who believes but really doesn't believe? By thinking God is really just a means to an end rather than the end itself.What Jesus is demanding in this passage is total surrender. He's demanding that he be LORD of all. That means Lord of your time. Your money. Your relationships. Everything. What do you love more than him? Give it up. God will not share his glory with another. He won't tolerate idols.Maybe for you it's money, house, cars, property, hobbies, sports, things…Maybe it's your family, career, power, image,Remember that blank check? God wants that thing that you love too much. He wants it. We started this message by asking, “Without knowing, would you be willing to submit to whatever the implications of this message are?” Well here it is. God wants you to love him and nothing else.

Before Abraham was, Christ is, and his glory is of old. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/brooknomsworld/message

JESUS OUR FRIEND IN FAITH  In Psalm 22 as Jesus was suffering and dying for us on the cross he cried out to his Father and said; Psalm 22:22 I will praise you to all my brothers and sisters; I will stand up before the assembly (the gathering of my friends) and testify of the wonderful things you have done… Let all Israel sing his praises, for he has not despised my cries of deep despair; he has not turned and walked away. When I cried to him, he heard and came." in Paul’s letter to the Hebrews he quotes these words of Jesus to encourage them to not give up because they are going though times of affliction.   Heb.2: 12 [Jesus is saying] ‘I'll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know about you; I'll join them in worship and praise to you. Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says, Even I live by placing my trust in God’. And he goes on to say, I'm here with the children God gave me’.  14. Since we, God's children, are human beings--made of flesh and blood--he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a human being could he die for our sakes. (so that we could raised with him-Ephesians 2:6) 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham That means that Jesus stands in the place for all humanity towards the Father and he stands in the place of the Father towards all humanity. He has made us one with him as a brother and as a friend in faith.  Jesus is not only the heavenly example to us but a partner with us in a walk of faith – in the way that he trusted totally in the love of his Father to guide him through his life on earth. Jesus is saying that he is one with his earthly friends, his brothers and sisters, and that when they go through their afflictions and trials of faith he will give them his faith to go through their sufferings. In other words we can receive now the very faith that he has always had in the Father. Jesus call us his friends (John 15:15 – for all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you) Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not bring to naught the grace of God…otherwise Christ died in vain. Tineke and I lived in the Philippines for about eight months many years ago setting in the Filipino leadership in a church that we had been involved in helping to get established established at the time. At the end of one meeting where I’d been talking about faith, a lady asked me to pray for her concerning the shared ownership of their extended family of a small community store, called a sari sari store. There were many opinions as to who owned how much of the store. When I heard her prayer list, of how she felt God needed to give favour to some of the family, and to deal with some of the others to teach them a lesson, I thought it would need a Philadelphia lawyer to deal with the complexity of it all. She said she didn’t have enough faith to pray and that she had told her friends she would use Pastor Paul’s faith. This hadn’t been my plan when I had just taught about having faith but I was quite agreeable about praying and I found myself praying that she would be set free from anxiety and resentment about the situation and find the kind of wisdom spoken about in James re making peace and using entreaty and not starting a family feud etc.   I felt that The Holy Spirit was with us and she was in agreement and surrendered it all into God’s hands and the Amen was real. That was just a shadow of what I came to understand about having the faith OF our friend Jesus not just faith IN Jesus. Our prayers depend on the faith OF Jesus – that is our ultimate act of faith IN him. Romans 8:25 For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts (Jesus) knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because HE (Jesus) intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (verse 34…it is Jesus who is interceding for us). Paul knew the Hebrew Christians were fading in faith so Paul is fervently keen for them, and for all of us, to realize how Jesus desires to impart his own faith to us and bring our needs before his Father on our behalf as we go through the trials and testing of our faith.  Then Paul tells them that we are not to think of our life as one that is doomed to affliction but rather as one that is destined for faith. After Paul tells us about the heavenly example and heavenly participation of Jesus, he tells us about the earthly example and model of Abraham’s struggle of faith, in Abraham’s awkward attempts to develop that complete trust in a loving Father God. Verse 16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham  Paul honours Abraham as the ‘father of faith’ (Galatians 3:7)  Abraham was also called the friend of God because of his faith (James 2:23) Jesus and Abraham as ‘friends in faith’ have much in common concerning their faith life, in that they both had to leave their world behind and enter a new one, they learned to trust God totally in times of uncertainty, and they understood ‘resurrection reality’.  We also have these same challenges in our lives as friend of faith.   Abraham is called by God to leave the place where he grew up and leave his family behind, taking only his wife Sarah into a new and unknown land, where he was promised he would have many descendants and be the father of a great nation.  He gets the order half-right - he takes his father and his cousin Lot with him too. This was to cause him trouble on his journey.  We are reminded by this that we who have responded to God to follow Him, can find ourselves still clinging to things 'back there'. We have to leave the old world of thinking that we can control things in life to have them work the way we want them to. We also cling to trusting in the things of the world that have given us some sense of certainty for our safety and security and satisfaction. Abraham faced many uncertainties and made mistakes of judgment but he learned to trust in God through them all. He told half truths    The hardest challenges are the uncertainties of life.  Before Abraham left he was promised a son and many descendants, but he had to wait because despite God’s promise Sarah did not have a child, so Abraham acted impatiently by having a child through Hagar, his wife’s servant girl.  However this did not stop the promised of a son from arriving in due time.  It meant Abraham had to bear the consequences of his impatience but he had God as a friend (James 2:23… Abraham was called a friend of God) and we have Jesus as a friend. A miracle happens. God has not forgotten His promise to Abraham. Sarah, in old age gives birth to a son, Isaac. But this is not the end of Abraham's journey. God tells him to sacrifice his only real God given son on an altar on a mountain. This time his obedience is complete. He puts Isaac on the altar of sacrifice, trusting God that He would either provide another sacrifice, or raise Isaac from the dead.  This is called 'resurrection faith'. 'Resurrection faith' is surrendered faith whereby we place our faith in the hands of the faith of Jesus, who brings forth the will of the Father in our lives... God intervened for Abraham and provided a ram for the sacrifice and tells Abraham He has spared his son. The Father has provided Jesus for us – our resurrection faith.  This was Abraham’s pinnacle of faith, but what a journey! This is the place where God wants to get us, where He wants to get His Church.  Jesus left his heavenly world and became one of us. Then he took us back with him into his heavenly world when he rose from the dead and we stay with him, on earth but living from heaven (resurrection faith). This is where resurrection life flows out of our sacrifice of surrender to God. This where the Church lives in the arena of the miraculous.  We may have had some false starts like Abraham, we may have an Ishmael or two, where we’ve tried to do God's thing in our own way.  But God has us on His journey and He will provide supernaturally the completion of our faith. We can live in His resurrection life, partners and friends with Jesus. Resurrection faith is at the meeting point, where we leave our old world behind and enter into the world that Jesus has prepared for us. That is when we experience the supernatural walk with Jesus that he wants us to have, sharing in his very own faith. This is where there is answered prayer and that is where there is love and hope and faith (1 John 3:19-21).        

“He will crush your head” (God, to the serpent, right after the Fall), “Unto us a Son is given” (Isaiah, referring to the Messiah, the Son of David, 700 BC), “He was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah, about the Suffering Servant, 700 BC), “Before Abraham was born, I AM!” (Jesus, ca. 33 AD) The Song has been echoing throughout the ages, since long before Creation. It's a Song known by many names. Today, we call him Jesus. His climactic arrival in Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover engendered days of fanatical joy and searing hatred, celebration and condemnation, exaltation and mockery, and finally, crucifixion. And day after day, that entire week, the Song was a sweet, soaring descant, lilting high above the maelstrom brewing below. He was, is, and ever will be, our Song. Luke 19: 28-44 1. v. 30 - (1 Kings 1:28-40; Zechariah 9:9) - The Song's ____________________________ 2. v. 40 – (Psalm 19: 1-6; Romans 8:18-22) – The _____________________ of the Song 3. v. 41 – (Luke 13: 31-35) – The ____________________ of the Song

THE WEEK OF JUDICA - SATURDAYLESSON: HEBREWS 1:1-13Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58Jesus gives the basis and reason why it is just His Word and not that of anyone else which makes men live. It is simply this: that He “was” even before Abraham. “Before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus is the one true God.If the person who offered Himself for us were not God, it would help and avail nothing before God that He was born of a virgin or had suffered a thousand deaths. But the fact that the seed of Abraham, who gives Himself for us, is also the true God makes His sacrifice such a blessing for us and conquers sin and death for us.Jesus is not speaking here of His human nature which could be seen and felt. From His human aspect, it could be seen that He was not yet fifty years old and, hence, could not have seen Abraham. But with the nature by which He infinitely antedated Abraham, He also antedated all other creatures and the whole world.According to His spiritual essence, He was also man before Abraham; that is, in the word and knowledge of faith, He was in the saints who all knew and believed that Christ, God and man, would suffer for us. The writer of Hebrews says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). In the Revelation of John we read of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). Here Jesus is speaking of His divine nature.SL 11:573 (14)AE 76:414PRAYER: Lord God, heavenly Father, fill our hearts with such faith and knowledge that we always fully appreciate the precious gift of Your only begotten Son, and all the blessings of salvation You have so richly bestowed on us in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Book of Genesis 17:3-9 I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants throughout the ages. Psalm 105:4-5-6-7-8-9 The Lord remembers his covenant forever. Gospel of Saint John 8:51-59 Before Abraham came to be I AM. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ned-jabbar/message

The Jews came to Jesus and demanded, “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” ( Jn 10:24 ). But Jesus had already told them plainly. In his previous encounter with the Jews, which we heard read on Sunday, Jesus told them, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” In other words, “I AM Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac,…

Before Abraham was, I AM.

1. Jesus the I AM of God - Introduction Exodus 3:13-14: Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' Isaiah 41:4: “Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD -with the first of them and with the last—I am he” John 8:58: “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “Before Abraham was, I AM”. On seven further occasions in the Gospel of John, John records statements where Jesus said “I AM”. These are unique to John and are not recorded in the other three Gospels. Here in John 8:58, Jesus is reinforcing His claims to be God. When Jesus says “I AM”, he is referring back to the time when God revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14 and through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 41:4. That’s why in John 8:59, they picked up stones in order to kill Him for blasphemy. This was in accordance, so they thought, with Deuteronomy 13, which dictates that anyone who tries to turn people away from the living God is to be stoned to death. They knew Jesus was claiming to the very God they thought they worshipped. Listen or download the mp3 to hear more about these Bible Verses and how Jesus is the I AM of God! Tap here or Right Mouse click to save this as mp3  

We have a Father like no other, but only “in Christ.”  In Christ, He Chose and Predestined Us  When did He choose and predestine us?  Before the foundation of the world  Before Genesis 1  Before Adam and Eve  Before the Fall  Before Abraham...

Part 5 of the “I Am” Statements of Jesus – The miracles of the Christmas story point to even more miracles to come in the life of Jesus.  All of them, however, are grounded in the greatest miracle of all–the … Continue reading → The post Before Abraham was born, I am first appeared on Cornerstone.

December 20 Sunday 2020 Pastor John Mathis Jesus the Hope of Glory / http://clevelandchristianfellowship.com  / Share This Podcast On Your Social Media Cleveland Christian Fellowship 695 South Ocoee st. Cleveland Tn. 37311 For us, Worship centered around the Incredible Miracle of Jesus' Birth—It all goes back to Jesus.  No Christmas was ever complete without Jesus—For its a Celebration of the Entrance of our Savior into Our World. He didn't get His start in Bethlehem John 8:58 58 Jesus said…Before Abraham was, I Am John 1:14 14 The Word was made flesh, and DWELT among Us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father 2000 years ago, God Almighty put on flesh and came in to our world, as a baby in a manger in the town of Bethlehem.  He grew up living a sinless life, He taught the greatest things ever spoken, performed miracles and died on a cross for you and me.   An accurate translation of the word DWELT is “tented or tabernacled.” 14 And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, INCARNATE) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived) among us; and we saw His glory…such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father….AMP The Glory of God “tabernacled” among us in the body of Jesus. Through His consummation of the Father's great plan of redemption in our new birth, He becomes, "Christ in you, the hope of glory"  (Col. 1:27).  Isaiah 9:6, 7 6 For unto US a child is born, unto US a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace 7 Of the increase of His Government and Peace there shall be no end Isaiah 7:13, 14 The prophet Isaiah—looking down through time some 750 years, points out that a virgin from the house of David would give birth 14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel (INCARNATE) Matthew 1:23 We see this repeated in Matthew's account… 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel (literally “God Became One Of Us”) INCARNATION: One person with two natures.           He did this without ever ceasing to be God. The Greek tells us that Jesus “emptied or limited” Himself when He came in the likeness of man  Philippians 2:6-8 He made Himself of no reputation  God always had a plan—a plan that would bring Redemption Galatians 4:4-7 Because He came, we have Peace with God and Total Victory on Earth—we NOT ONLY have the Promise of Eternity but also the Promise of the Life that NOW IS    1 Timothy 4:8 Romans 15:13 Paul says… 13 May the God of Hope fill you with Joy and Peace In Believing, that you may Abound in Hope through the Power of the Holy Ghost http://clevelandchristianfellowship.com https://www.facebook.com/Cleveland-Christian-Fellowship-295109417759943/ Website https://the-prodigalson.com Email the-prodigalson@outlook.com YouVersion Bible App https://my.bible.com iOS App https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prodigal-son/id1450529518?mt=8 Android App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.wizzard.android.prodical Social Media https://www.facebook.com/The-Prodigal-SON-209069136315959/ https://www.facebook.com/noreligion1511/ https://twitter.com/noreligion1511 https://www.instagram.com/noreligion1511/ https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCPx4s1CLkSYef6mp4dSuU4w/featured

2020年10月4日主日聚會 分享：余光昭 聖經： 「耶和華是我的名，直到永遠；這也是我的紀念，直到萬代。」（出三15b） 「耶穌說：『我實實在在的告訴你們，還沒有亞伯拉罕就有了我（Before Abraham was, I am）。』」（約八58）

The twelve signs of the Zodiac, the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve months of the year, the twelve hours in the day, the twelve powers of Hercules, the twelve Tribes of Israel, the twelve gates of heavenly Jerusalem, the twelve pillars of the temple of Heliopolis, the twelve altars of Fanus, the twelve shields of Mars, the twelve mansions of the moon, and the twelve apostles – all symbolize and portray the twelve powers of man or the elements of consciousness. These powers must be disciplined and purified before man becomes Jesus the Christ. The twelve sons of Jacob are the twelve disciples.The blazing star is I Am. Jesus the man found it; he became “Christed” or awakened to his Godhood here and now; translated his body, and went back to the Glory, which was his before the world was. He tells us about it in the 17th chapter of John; "1 have glorified thee on the earths, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, 0 Father; glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 14:4.5.) Before the world was I Am. Before Abraham was I Am. When all things cease to be, I Am. Joseph Murphy was born on May 20, 1898, in a small town in the County of Cork, Ireland. His father, Denis Murphy, was a deacon and professor at t-he National School of Ireland, a Jesuit facility. His mother, Ellen, née Connelly, was a housewife, who later gave birth to another son, John, and a daughter, Catherine. Joseph was brought up in a strict Catholic household. His father was quite devout and, indeed, was one of the few lay professors who taught Jesuit seminarians. He had a broad knowledge of many subjects and developed in his son the desire to study and learn.Welcome To The Reality RevolutionBUY MY BOOK! https://www.amazon.com/Reality-Revolution-Mind-Blowing-Movement-Hack/dp/154450618X/Music By Mettaverseinner worlds➤ Listen on Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2KjGlLI➤ Follow them on Instagram: http://bit.ly/2JW8BU2➤ Join them on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2G1j7G6➤ Subscribe to their channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyvjffON2NoUvX5q_TgvVkwAll my videos about Dr. Joseph Murphy - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo_OtBhXg2s85UuZBT-OihF_All My Neville Goddard Videos In One Playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKv1KCSKwOo8kBZsJpp3xvkRwhbXuhg0MFor all episodes of the Reality Revolution – https://www.therealityrevolution.comLike us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RealityRevolutionPodcast/Join our facebook group The Reality Revolution https://www.facebook.com/groups/403122083826082/Subscribe to my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOgXHr5S3oF0qetPfqxJfSw#nevillegoddard #audiobooks #imagination #newthought 

Sabbath Worship Service with Pastor Johnathan B, Fields Jr. Before Abraham was “I AM - Pastor Johnathan B, Fields Jr - Saturday, December 5, 2020

Sabbath Worship Service with Pastor Johnathan B, Fields Jr. Before Abraham was “I AM - Pastor Johnathan B, Fields Jr - Saturday, December 5, 2020

You are an Eternal BeingIn A Course in Miracles Jesus tells us the Word of God means, I am as God created me.  That's humbling accepting yourself as a spirit, not as flesh. That's humbling accepting yourself as an eternal being, not as some make-believe invention of a shadow figure that's here for a few years and then gone. Jesus is saying, Oh I choose the second place. And the reason he puts that in his workbook because he's getting it from his own direct experience of God, he realized he could be happy if he was a creation of God and not some make-believe figment of the imagination of the ego. And so that's how he came into the I Am Presence. Before Abraham was I am, I am what I am as God created me. That is the truth of it all. And that is so humble. That's why Even when people would come to Jesus and start praising him and giving him compliments. Like you heal people and he would respond why do you call me good? He was pointing to number one. He was always giving God all the glory.Read A Course in Miracles online here: https://acourseinmiraclesnow.com/Learn more about David Hoffmeister here: https://davidhoffmeister.com

In this episode I deal with the most important verse spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John. Everything so far has led up to this verse, and everything after it is based upon it. It is the pinnacle of the gospel found in the eighth chapter. They are words that Jesus spoken in response to repeated inquiries by people as to who he was, whether he was the Messiah or the Prophet or someone else. Jesus responded, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”To explore that saying properly I need to put it in context and mention briefly what led up to it in chapters 7 and 8. These chapters center on a discussion of the identity of Jesus, explored in the context of the Feast of Tabernacles.We find that Jesus is not just talking about himself. He is speaking as the Son of Man, which he called himself a few verses earlier, as representative of all humans. Jesus is teaching about human nature. He is teaching about our nature. What Jesus said of himself, every person can say of themselves. That is because we are not separate individuals. We are one with Christ. Each one of us can say with Jesus, “Before Abraham was, I AM.”This saying of Jesus is equivalent to a Zen koan. A famous koan says, "Show me your original face before you were born." Or “Show me your original face before your mother and father were born." Jesus’ saying “Before Abraham was, I AM” is pointing to the same reality. These koans are meant to direct our attention to what we truly are apart from our physical human manifestations.In this episode I make this very practical and lead the listener to experience this. What were you before you were you? What were you before you were born? Better yet, before you were conceived? Before your parents were born? What were you before the universe was born? If you know that, then you know what you are. This is what this saying is all about.

A new MP3 sermon from Old Providence ARP Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Before Abraham was...I AM Subtitle: Daily Devotionals Speaker: Patrick Malphrus Broadcaster: Old Providence ARP Church Event: Devotional Date: 11/17/2020 Bible: John 8:29-59 Length: 23 min.

I. Logos as God and Man (1:1-18) III. Son of God’s ministry to His disciples (13:1-17:26) II. Signs of the Son of God (1:19-12:50) Washing of the disciples’ feet (13:1-17) Prediction of betrayal (13:18-30) New Commandment & prediction of denials (13:31-38) Comfort and instruction: heaven, the Way, sending of the Spirit (14:1-31) Vine & branches (15:1-17) Hatred of the world (15:18-16:4) Work of the Holy Spirit (16:5-16) Sorrow to joy: He has overcome the world (16:17-33) Jesus’ prayer for Himself (17:1-5) Jesus’ prayer for His Disciples (17:6-19) Jesus’ prayer for all believers (17: 20-26) John the Baptist’s witness: Denial of being the Christ & affirmation that Jesus is the One (1:19-34) First Disciples—James, John, Phillip, & Nathanael (1:35-51) Sign 1: Water to Wine (2:1-12) Cleansing of the Temple (2:13-25) What do the signs show: Jesus & Nicodemus (3:1-21) John the Baptist: “He must increase” (3:22-36) Jesus and the Samaritan Women (4:1-42) Sign 2: Healing the Officer’s Son (4:43-54) Sign 3: Sabbath Healing Controversy (5:1-18) IV. Son of God’s suffering, death, & resurrection (18-20) Sabbath Defense: Son does nothing on His Own (5:19-47) Sign 4: Feeding 5 thousand (6:1-15) Arrest of Jesus (18:1-11) Trials before the High Priests: Annas/Peter’s denial Caiaphas/Peter’s denials (18:12-27) Trial before Pilate (18:28-40) Insistence of crucifixion by the crowd (19:1-16) Crucifixion of Jesus (19:17-27) Death of Jesus: “It is finished” & fulfilled (19:28-37) Burial of Jesus (19:38-42) Empty tomb (20:1-9) Appearance to Mary Magdalene (20:10-18) Appearance to His disciples (20:19-23) Appearance to Thomas (20:24-29) Sign 5: Jesus walks on water (6:16-21) Bread of Life (Manna/flesh and blood of the Son of Man) (6:22-59) Reaction: Rejection and confession (6:60-71) Teaching, Unbelief, and offer of Living Water (7:1-52) Women caught in adultery (7:53-8:11) Light of the World: Sent from the Father, children of Abraham, devil, Son of God’s preexistence (8:12-59) Sign 6: Blind Man Healed & Controversy (9:1-41) Good Shepherd (10:1-21) Jewish rejection: Jesus’ claim of unity with the Father (10:22-42) Purpose of the Gospel — “That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God...and may have life in His name.” (20:30-31) Sign 7: Raising of Lazarus and Unbelief (11:1-54) Anointing at Bethany (11:55-12:8) Triumphal Entry (12:9-19) Warning: Son of Man will be lifted up (12:20-50) Appearance by the sea (21:1-14) Reinstatement of Peter: Threefold commission/prediction of Peter’s death, etc. (21:15-24) Outline of John V. Appearance and reinstatement of Peter (21) *Much of this is adapted from Wallace and Bock’s outlines on the Gospel of John (bible.org & Jesus according to Scripture) Sign 3 Sign 4 Sign 5 Sign 6 Sign 7 4) I am the good shepherd (10:11, 14) Before Abraham was, I AM Exodus 3:14 Sabbath Healing (5:1-18) 3) I am the door of the sheepfold (10:7, 9) John 5:18 Feeding 5000 (6:1-15) John 8:58 Explicit claim to Deity Jesus walks on water (6:16-21) 5) I am the resurrection and the life (11: 25) John 10:30 The Father and I are one Unity of essence. We are the same! Blind Man Healed (9:1-41) 6) I am the way, the truth and the life (14:6) My Lord and my God! Thomas’ response to the resurrected Christ Raising of Lazarus(11:1- 54) John 20:28 Gospel of John The apostle John makes it abundantly clear what the purpose of his Gospel is, “But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). The synoptic Gospels describe an “earth up” view, the Gospel of John describes a “heaven down” view. Matthew, Mark and Luke progressively reveal Christ as the Son of God, John affirms the deity of Christ at the very onset in verse 1, “the Word was fully God” and at the very end with Thomas’ proclamation “My Lord and My God” (20:28) and in all the space between (5:18, 8:58-59, 10:30-39, etc.). The first half of the Gospel highlights 7 miraculous “signs” of Jesus’ authority and relationship to the Father (4:48, 5:36, 7:31, 9:16, 12:27-30) that move some to belief, but others to rejection. Jesus’ audience is in- vited to “believe” (100x) in the Son of God for eternal life over and over (1:12, 3:15-18,36, 5:24, 6:47, 7:38, 8:24, 11:25, 12:36,46-47, 14:1, 19:7, 20:29). Scattered throughout the Gospel is the powerful theme of the Son of God coming to represent, replace, and complete the Jewish institutions and sacred symbols: Jesus is the real temple (2:21), His flesh and blood is the real manna from heaven (6:32, 35), He is the light of the world (8:12), the Good Shepherd (10:11), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way, the truth, and the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1). Jesus is the perfect Son, with all of the authority and power from the Father (“sent by the Father” 45x), to fulfill the timely plan (2:4, 7:6, 30, 8:20, 12:23, 13;1, 17:1, 19:28) to save the world from our sins (4:42, 12:32, 13:1, 17:1, 19:28). The religious leaders believed they had the authority of Moses, yet Christ explains how Moses condemns the religious establishment and testified of Christ (5:45-47). Not even Rome had authority over Jesus (19:10-11), it was the Father who empowered the Son with authority (3:35, 5:27) where as Jesus proclaims, I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again (10:18). Jesus’ mission, according to John, was very simple—Jesus was sent by the Father to save the world, whoever believed in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (3:16). Now this is eternal life– that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent (17:3). 7 Signs of the Son of God Son of God’s “I Am” statements “The Word was fully God!” Sign 1 Sign 2 Water to Wine (2:1-12) 1) I am the bread of life (6:35, 41, 48, 51) 2) I am the light of the world (8:12) John 1:1 The Word was fully God John’s genealogy traces back to eternity Healing the Officer’s Son (4:43-54) Making himself equal with God. Calling God His Father 7) I am the true vine (15:1, 5)

John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:14 - And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 10:30 - I and [my] Father are one. Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. John 20:28 - And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. John 8:58 - Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fascinatinginsights/message

Bible verses related to Jesus Is God from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance - Sort By Book Order John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:14 - And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 10:30 - I and [my] Father are one. Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. John 20:28 - And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. John 8:58 - Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fascinatinginsights/message

DVD with Niyi Adekunle Wednesday 2nd September Hello and a lovely Wednesday to you in the name of Jesus. We thank God again for another month of September and I declare in the name of Jesus you are going higher, you are doing better, God's power is working on your behalf, is working in your job, is working in your business, is working in your education, is working in any vocation, occupation you are involved in the name of Jesus. The peace of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God will answer for you this month in the name of Jesus. We're talking about the power of conviction, and we said like we've started yesterday, your conviction is your Faith. When we talk about conviction we're actually talking about your Faith, so, your faith is your conviction. Remember, conviction is what regulate our lives. Rom 4:18-21 (NKJV) " Who contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sara's womb: He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthen in Faith, giving glory to God: and being fully convinced that what God had _promised he was able to perform" Before Abraham could live in the reality of what God had said, he had to come to a place of full conviction. And like we said yesterday, your faith is your conviction. If your faith has not come to that place of fullness, if you have not come to that place where you are fully convinced, then your faith cannot deliver, your conviction cannot deliver. As long as our conviction is here and there, moving up and down, then we will not be able to appropriate God's blessings in our lives. Opinions are cheap, almost everybody has an opinion, almost everybody has a point of view on every situation that we hear, but opinions are not anything, they are nothing serious because it's not based on fact, it's not based on anything, it's just what somebody feels, it's just what they feel about something but convictions are the building blocks of life. They are the basis of yours beliefs and your behaviour. That's why they say "we do not hold convictions but convictions holds us" it literally regulates our lives, it literally controls the things we do. That is why it's important we learn how to cultivate our conviction or whatever it is, understand that, when your talk about your conviction, you're simply talking about your faith. My prayer is that your conviction will keep getting stronger in the things of God and just like Abraham, you'll come to that place of being fully convinced so that you too can live in the reality of what God has promised you . Thank you for listening to us today. God bless you! God keep you!! Have a lovely day.

John 8:56-58 – Before Abraham was I am 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” 58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

To support the ministry and get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Matthew 12: 38-42 - 'There is something greater than Solomon here.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 994 (in 'The Progressive Nature of the Resurrection') - Already now in this present life he gives a sign and pledge of this by restoring some of the dead to life, announcing thereby his own Resurrection, though it was to be of another order. He speaks of this unique event as the "sign of Jonah," The sign of the temple: he announces that he will be put to death but rise thereafter on the third day (abbreviated). - 627 (in 'You will not let your holy one see corruption') - Jesus' Resurrection "on the third day" was the sign of this, also because bodily decay was held to begin on the fourth day after death (abbreviated). - 635 (in 'Christ Descended into Hell') - Christ went down into the depths of death so that "the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." Jesus, "the Author of life", by dying destroyed "him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and [delivered] all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage. "Henceforth the risen Christ holds "the keys of Death and Hades", so that "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth" (abbreviated). - 590 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the one God and Saviour') - Only the divine identity of Jesus' person can justify so absolute a claim as "He who is not with me is against me"; and his saying that there was in him "something greater than Jonah,. . . greater than Solomon", something "greater than the Temple"; his reminder that David had called the Messiah his Lord, and his affirmations, "Before Abraham was, I AM", and even "I and the Father are one." - 678 (in 'To Judge the Living and the Dead') - Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching (abbreviated). Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daily-gospel-exegesis/message

Today's audio Daily Star devotion podcast dubbed-Before Abraham was, I AM is a prophetic message, in which God wants all and sundry to know Him, His Supremacy, Sovereignty, Majesty etc. It also centres on how God gives us children blessing, hope, future, victories against all odds, opinions and oppositions.

To support the ministry and get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Matthew 12: 1-8 - 'The Son of Man is master of the sabbath.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 581-582 (in 'Jesus and the Law') - The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law. Yet Jesus could not help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people “as one who had authority, and not as their scribes"...In presenting with divine authority the definitive interpretation of the Law, Jesus found himself confronted by certain teachers of the Law who did not accept his interpretation of the Law, guaranteed though it was by the divine signs that accompanied it. This was the case especially with the sabbath laws, for he recalls often with rabbinical arguments, that the sabbath rest is not violated by serving God and neighbor, which his own healings did." (abbreviated) - 2173 (in 'The Sabbath Day') - The Gospel reports many incidents when Jesus was accused of violating the sabbath law. But Jesus never fails to respect the holiness of this day. He gives this law its authentic and authoritative interpretation: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.” With compassion, Christ declares the sabbath for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing. The sabbath is the day of the Lord of mercies and a day to honor God. “The Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.” - 586 (in 'Jesus and the Temple') - Far from having been hostile to the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing to pay the Temple-tax, associating with him Peter, whom he had just made the foundation of his future Church. He even identified himself with the Temple by presenting himself as God's definitive dwelling-place among men (abbreviated). - 590 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the One God and Saviour') - Only the divine identity of Jesus' person can justify so absolute a claim as "He who is not with me is against me"; and his saying that there was in him "something greater than Jonah,. . . greater than Solomon", something "greater than the Temple"; his reminder that David had called the Messiah his Lord, and his affirmations, "Before Abraham was, I AM", and even "I and the Father are one." - 2100 (in 'Sacrifice') - Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor. Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (abbreviated). Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daily-gospel-exegesis/message

Here is the link to make a donation to Caruthersville First Assembly of God: https://www.caruthersvillefirst.com/give Address: 1103 Grand Ave, Caruthersville, MO Phone: 573-922-5080 E-mail: caruthersvillefirst@gmail.com Copyright License 11288908 + Streaming License 20244706 Sermon video available: https://youtu.be/v3ZSQo18nBY "Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." - John 8:47-59 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/caruthersvillefirst/support

"Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." — John 8:47-59 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/caruthersvillefirst/support

Before Abraham, I Am

"Before Abraham was, I AM!"The definitive statement that Jesus is YHWH.He was not a mere prophet.He was not a mere man.He was fully man and He IS fully God.This puts Christianity - True Christianity - in an utterly exclusive league when compared with any other Philosophy or Religion.

Before Abraham finished his life, we read in Chapter 24 of his concern for his son. He sent his servant to go and find a bride for his son. There are many marriages mentioned in Scripture,but only two marriages that we see clearly as being God-ordained. One was Adam's. Eve was definitely God's choice. The other was Isaac's marriage. Rebekah was God's choice also. If someone asked me if arranged marriages were scriptural, I would have to say “Yes! I believe in marriages arranged by God!” God may arrange it through one's parents (as in Issac's case) or apart from parents (as in Adam's case.) The thing that matters is that it must be arrange by God.

To support the ministry and get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy John 10: 22-30 - 'The Father and I are one.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 548 (in 'The Signs of the Kingdom of God') - The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father's works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God (abbreviated). - 583 (in 'Jesus and the Temple') - His public ministry itself was patterned by his pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the great Jewish Feasts (abbreviated). - 590 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the One God and Saviour') - Only the divine identity of Jesus' person can justify so absolute a claim as "He who is not with me is against me"; and his saying that there was in him "something greater than Jonah,. . . greater than Solomon", something "greater than the Temple"; his reminder that David had called the Messiah his Lord, and his affirmations, "Before Abraham was, I AM", and even "I and the Father are one." Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daily-gospel-exegesis/message

Week 1 of the series, in which we look at the "I Am" statements of Jesus. This week we look at Jesus' declaration, “Before Abraham was born, I Am!” John 8:56

Happy Lord's Day, Friends! I trust that, even if you are among the millions who are sheltering in place, that you know that your heart and your Spirit are not shackled. This is the day that the Lord has made - let us REJOICE and BE GLAD in it. Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again - REJOICE! Easter Sunday - when the church celebrates the glorious resurrection of Jesus - is one week away. It is looking like many hundreds of thousands of churches will not be able to meet in person in sanctuaries, and that might mute our together-celebration of the greatest event in history, but let it not mute your proclamation. In fact, allow me to encourage you this year, in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, to AMPLIFY your proclamation. Decorate your house. Your sidewalks. Your car. Your windows. Fly the Banner: HE IS RISEN. SHOUT it to the mountaintops. Maybe our gatherings will be less, but may our PROCLAMATION be the LOUDEST ever! Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 8, Psalms 9, Proverbs 22 and 1st Thessalonians 2. Our question is all about ministry to people, and it isn't just applicable to pastors. All Christians are ministers in some way or another. Perhaps teaching Sunday school, or kids, or youth, or adults, or whatever. How should Christians minister to each other? Let's read 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and pay particularly close attention to verses 5-11. 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness— 6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:5-11 Interesting wisdom there, right? We usually think of leaders as bold, brash, loud, confident, and charismatic, but Paul uses words here like gentle, nurturing, comfort, care and encourage. The overall image of a leader is a gentle/soft/meek leader. I am reminded here about two descriptions of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords: Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Matthew 21:5 15 Jesus was aware of this and withdrew. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. 16 He warned them not to make him known, 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick, until he has led justice to victory. 21 The nations will put their hope in his name. Matthew 12:15-21 Jesus is Lord of all, and yet He did not ride on an ostentatious war-horse entering into Jerusalem, but a humble donkey. He was so gentle, that He would not even break an already weakened peace of stubble, nor blow out a struggling candle. Paul, likewise, ministered among the Thessalonians as a gentle nurse might take care of a child. In fact, no less than 5 times in the letters of 1-2 Timothy and Titus, Paul required and commanded pastors and leaders in the Body of Christ to be GENTLE. In a world that looks for leaders with the characteristics of a Lion, the Word looks for those who follow the LION and behave like LAMBS. So - let's talk about meekness. The meekness of Jesus, and the promise of Jesus that the meek will inherit the Earth. To lead us in that talk, I'd like to tag in Pastor Tim Keller from New York City. The following excerpt on meekness is from a sermon he taught on the woman caught in adultery: Today we’re going to look at another one of the traits of character Jesus Christ reveals in himself that is given to us as well as characteristics of the heart we should be cultivating in ourselves. If you go to Paul’s famous catalog in Galatians 5, which is called the fruit of the Spirit, near the very end you get to a little word that, in the modern translations, is usually translated gentleness. I’m going to show you why … Even though it’s a worse word, it’s a little bit of a better word. In the older translations it’s called meekness. Paul says one of the fruit of the Spirit is meekness. Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek.” Why? Why didn’t he say, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted”? When you think of meek people, you think of poor, distressed, anxious, meek little milk-toast people, and you think, “Oh yes, Jesus is going to say, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted.’ ” No. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Then Jesus says in his most famous of all invitations … He says at the end of Matthew 11, “Come unto me all ye who are weak and heavy-laden.” He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” When you think of meek people, you think of troubled people, people with low self-esteem. You think of people who are depressed and anxious and who are always wringing their hands or their Bibles. You think of people who are filled with turmoil in their hearts. Jesus says, “You will never, ever, ever get rest until you learn from me how to be meek. There will be no rest in your life until you get meekness. There will be no rest in your life until you come and learn meekness and humility of me.” So let’s do it. We’d better do it. Obviously, we have two problems. Not only do we not have meekness in our lives, we obviously don’t even understand it, because the way Jesus talks about it isn’t even the way it fits in our minds. We don’t even have a good definition of it. So let’s go, and let’s see a place where Jesus Christ’s own humility, what he called his meekness and lowliness of heart, is exhibited. (And then Keller begins to talk about John 7:53-8:11 - the woman caught in adultery. I'm going to skip a bit until we get to the place he begins to talk about Jesus doodling on the ground when the Pharisees want to have the woman stoned)... What is he doodling? Everybody wants to know. All sorts of people have come up with all sorts of ideas, but it doesn’t tell us. Therefore, there’s only one thing the writer is really trying to get across here, if anything at all. That is, he is unflappable. He is poised. He is calm. He is fearless. One of the things you have to recognize (I already alluded to this) is this word Jesus says … “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” “I am meek and lowly of heart.” It’s the same Greek word every place. Unless you understand the word, you’ll never begin to even get the hang of what Jesus means when he talks about meekness. The Greek word is praus. It has different forms. Do you know what it means? It comes from the word for an animal, a powerful wild animal, that is now submissive and receptive to the rider, a tamed wild animal. If Kathy and I ever feel like just crying for joy … You know, sometimes you say, “Hey, would you like to cry for joy?” “Yeah, let’s do that.” So we put on the video of The Black Stallion, and we watch Kelly Reno jump on the back of this enormous, incredible, powerful beauty of a horse that’s called “The Black,” and he rides through the surf. Unless you look at that, unless you see this enormous power that voluntarily has submitted, this huge, huge power submitting to this little kid … I mean, let’s face it. If they’re going to have a battle, who’s going to win? This enormous beauty and this enormous power is now submissive and responsive to the desires of the little boy, of the rider. Until you get a grip on that, you don’t understand meekness. Jesus Christ did not give up his power. Jesus Christ did not give up his greatness. He’s a moral beauty. He says, “I can command angels right now to come down and do this.” He still has his power. He still has his glory. He’s not exercising it. Why not? Because he has put it all under. He is submitting everything he is, and he’s receptive to us (we’re the riders), to her, and even (as we’re going to see) to them. He should just wipe them out. He doesn’t. He tries to teach them. He tries to open their eyes. He tries to wake them up. Now what is the point? You are not humble unless you’re gentle, but you’re also not humble unless you are absolutely fearless. Fearlessness is a sign of humility. What an unfortunate thing that meekness and weakness rhyme in English. Maybe the Devil did that. I don’t know. It could have been. In our minds they go together now, and in the theology of Christ they are utter opposites. Meekness and weakness are opposites. In biblical understanding, the meekest would be the strongest. Why? I’ll tell you why. Humility. Meekness is not thinking less of yourself. Jesus knows who he is, that he’s being so gentle. He doesn’t say, “Oh dear, who the heck am I?” Jesus never talks like that. This is the thing that’s so scary about Jesus. He walks on through, and he says, “I am the Lord of heaven and earth. I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Before Abraham was, I Am.” He makes these incredible claims. “I’m judge of all the earth. I can forgive sins.” He never, ever, ever knocks himself down and says, “Oh, I’m nothing.” He never says that. Get this. He acts like nothing, but he knows he’s not. See, that’s the exact opposite of the world’s understanding of humility. In fact, that’s the opposite of most of us. Most of us feel inferior and act superior to compensate for it. Jesus Christ knew he was superior and acts the inferior. He puts all of his power and glory under the interest of other people. Real humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. Real humility is being free from needing to focus on yourself. It means freedom from self-consciousness. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Happy Lord's Day, Friends! I trust that, even if you are among the millions who are sheltering in place, that you know that your heart and your Spirit are not shackled. This is the day that the Lord has made - let us REJOICE and BE GLAD in it. Rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again - REJOICE! Easter Sunday - when the church celebrates the glorious resurrection of Jesus - is one week away. It is looking like many hundreds of thousands of churches will not be able to meet in person in sanctuaries, and that might mute our together-celebration of the greatest event in history, but let it not mute your proclamation. In fact, allow me to encourage you this year, in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, to AMPLIFY your proclamation. Decorate your house. Your sidewalks. Your car. Your windows. Fly the Banner: HE IS RISEN. SHOUT it to the mountaintops. Maybe our gatherings will be less, but may our PROCLAMATION be the LOUDEST ever! Today's Bible passages are Leviticus 8, Psalms 9, Proverbs 22 and 1st Thessalonians 2. Our question is all about ministry to people, and it isn't just applicable to pastors. All Christians are ministers in some way or another. Perhaps teaching Sunday school, or kids, or youth, or adults, or whatever. How should Christians minister to each other? Let's read 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, and pay particularly close attention to verses 5-11. 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness— 6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to live worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2:5-11 Interesting wisdom there, right? We usually think of leaders as bold, brash, loud, confident, and charismatic, but Paul uses words here like gentle, nurturing, comfort, care and encourage. The overall image of a leader is a gentle/soft/meek leader. I am reminded here about two descriptions of Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords: Tell Daughter Zion, “See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Matthew 21:5 15 Jesus was aware of this and withdrew. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them all. 16 He warned them not to make him known, 17 so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 18 Here is my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not argue or shout, and no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20 He will not break a bruised reed, and he will not put out a smoldering wick, until he has led justice to victory. 21 The nations will put their hope in his name. Matthew 12:15-21 Jesus is Lord of all, and yet He did not ride on an ostentatious war-horse entering into Jerusalem, but a humble donkey. He was so gentle, that He would not even break an already weakened peace of stubble, nor blow out a struggling candle. Paul, likewise, ministered among the Thessalonians as a gentle nurse might take care of a child. In fact, no less than 5 times in the letters of 1-2 Timothy and Titus, Paul required and commanded pastors and leaders in the Body of Christ to be GENTLE. In a world that looks for leaders with the characteristics of a Lion, the Word looks for those who follow the LION and behave like LAMBS. So - let's talk about meekness. The meekness of Jesus, and the promise of Jesus that the meek will inherit the Earth. To lead us in that talk, I'd like to tag in Pastor Tim Keller from New York City. The following excerpt on meekness is from a sermon he taught on the woman caught in adultery: Today we’re going to look at another one of the traits of character Jesus Christ reveals in himself that is given to us as well as characteristics of the heart we should be cultivating in ourselves. If you go to Paul’s famous catalog in Galatians 5, which is called the fruit of the Spirit, near the very end you get to a little word that, in the modern translations, is usually translated gentleness. I’m going to show you why … Even though it’s a worse word, it’s a little bit of a better word. In the older translations it’s called meekness. Paul says one of the fruit of the Spirit is meekness. Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek.” Why? Why didn’t he say, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted”? When you think of meek people, you think of poor, distressed, anxious, meek little milk-toast people, and you think, “Oh yes, Jesus is going to say, ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall be comforted.’ ” No. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Then Jesus says in his most famous of all invitations … He says at the end of Matthew 11, “Come unto me all ye who are weak and heavy-laden.” He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” When you think of meek people, you think of troubled people, people with low self-esteem. You think of people who are depressed and anxious and who are always wringing their hands or their Bibles. You think of people who are filled with turmoil in their hearts. Jesus says, “You will never, ever, ever get rest until you learn from me how to be meek. There will be no rest in your life until you get meekness. There will be no rest in your life until you come and learn meekness and humility of me.” So let’s do it. We’d better do it. Obviously, we have two problems. Not only do we not have meekness in our lives, we obviously don’t even understand it, because the way Jesus talks about it isn’t even the way it fits in our minds. We don’t even have a good definition of it. So let’s go, and let’s see a place where Jesus Christ’s own humility, what he called his meekness and lowliness of heart, is exhibited. (And then Keller begins to talk about John 7:53-8:11 - the woman caught in adultery. I'm going to skip a bit until we get to the place he begins to talk about Jesus doodling on the ground when the Pharisees want to have the woman stoned)... What is he doodling? Everybody wants to know. All sorts of people have come up with all sorts of ideas, but it doesn’t tell us. Therefore, there’s only one thing the writer is really trying to get across here, if anything at all. That is, he is unflappable. He is poised. He is calm. He is fearless. One of the things you have to recognize (I already alluded to this) is this word Jesus says … “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” “I am meek and lowly of heart.” It’s the same Greek word every place. Unless you understand the word, you’ll never begin to even get the hang of what Jesus means when he talks about meekness. The Greek word is praus. It has different forms. Do you know what it means? It comes from the word for an animal, a powerful wild animal, that is now submissive and receptive to the rider, a tamed wild animal. If Kathy and I ever feel like just crying for joy … You know, sometimes you say, “Hey, would you like to cry for joy?” “Yeah, let’s do that.” So we put on the video of The Black Stallion, and we watch Kelly Reno jump on the back of this enormous, incredible, powerful beauty of a horse that’s called “The Black,” and he rides through the surf. Unless you look at that, unless you see this enormous power that voluntarily has submitted, this huge, huge power submitting to this little kid … I mean, let’s face it. If they’re going to have a battle, who’s going to win? This enormous beauty and this enormous power is now submissive and responsive to the desires of the little boy, of the rider. Until you get a grip on that, you don’t understand meekness. Jesus Christ did not give up his power. Jesus Christ did not give up his greatness. He’s a moral beauty. He says, “I can command angels right now to come down and do this.” He still has his power. He still has his glory. He’s not exercising it. Why not? Because he has put it all under. He is submitting everything he is, and he’s receptive to us (we’re the riders), to her, and even (as we’re going to see) to them. He should just wipe them out. He doesn’t. He tries to teach them. He tries to open their eyes. He tries to wake them up. Now what is the point? You are not humble unless you’re gentle, but you’re also not humble unless you are absolutely fearless. Fearlessness is a sign of humility. What an unfortunate thing that meekness and weakness rhyme in English. Maybe the Devil did that. I don’t know. It could have been. In our minds they go together now, and in the theology of Christ they are utter opposites. Meekness and weakness are opposites. In biblical understanding, the meekest would be the strongest. Why? I’ll tell you why. Humility. Meekness is not thinking less of yourself. Jesus knows who he is, that he’s being so gentle. He doesn’t say, “Oh dear, who the heck am I?” Jesus never talks like that. This is the thing that’s so scary about Jesus. He walks on through, and he says, “I am the Lord of heaven and earth. I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Before Abraham was, I Am.” He makes these incredible claims. “I’m judge of all the earth. I can forgive sins.” He never, ever, ever knocks himself down and says, “Oh, I’m nothing.” He never says that. Get this. He acts like nothing, but he knows he’s not. See, that’s the exact opposite of the world’s understanding of humility. In fact, that’s the opposite of most of us. Most of us feel inferior and act superior to compensate for it. Jesus Christ knew he was superior and acts the inferior. He puts all of his power and glory under the interest of other people. Real humility is not thinking less of yourself; it’s thinking of yourself less. Real humility is being free from needing to focus on yourself. It means freedom from self-consciousness. Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

(Gn.17:3-9;   Ps.105:4-9;   Jn.8:51-59)   “Before Abraham came to be, I AM.”   Abraham is a great man, the blessed patriarch, to whom God made the promise: “I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”  So Abraham becomes “the father of a host of nations,” not just by lineage, but by faith in the promise God has given him and the keeping of the covenant with Him.  Abraham is father to all who believe in the one God: the sons of Israel, the Jews; the sons of Ishmael, the Muslims; and all who worship the living Lord and “seek to serve Him constantly.” Yet as great as Abraham is, as fertile as he has become, Jesus is the greater and the more prosperous, for He Himself is the Lord our God, from whom Abraham receives his promise and so his greatness.  “Abraham rejoiced that he might see [Jesus'] day.  He saw it and was glad.”  For here come to us is the only Son of the God before whom he “prostrated himself”; here is the Lord of all the nations of whom Abraham is father. Jesus is equal with the Father, coeternal and all-powerful.  He does not make Himself so but receives such glory from the Father, with whom He is always.  How hard it is for the Jews to hear this.  Though according to their faith they have been waiting for just such arrival of the Holy One, of the Messiah, yet their hearts are unable to accept such divine wonder.  And so “they picked up rocks to throw at Jesus” upon His solemn declaration of His divinity. Is it not just so hard for all of us who call ourselves believers to come to terms with the awesome majesty of Jesus our God?  It seems something so far beyond our belief, that God could walk in our midst.  And yet HE IS; and so we must see how much greater than any man He is.  For though fully a man born in time and murdered upon a cross, yet He is God, living forever as Lord of all.  So great a gift, so wonderful a presence, is all that assures us that we “shall never see death” but be as He is, alive in the kingdom as He has promised.  Keep His word, and the Word of Life will be with you.    ******* O LORD, a greater than Abraham we have in your Son, for He is God with you – let us live forever in Him.  YHWH, your Son is God with you, dear Father, the great I AM; and He would bring us where you are, to a life that passes not away.  How could we die if we were with you?  For you are Life itself, and your Son with you. Abraham is the father of many nations; many lives came to be through him and all of faith find a father in him who was of the greatest faith.  But you are the Father of Abraham, dear LORD, and Jesus is your Son – and so Jesus Himself is as Abraham's Father, coming before him and giving life to him as He does. O may He give us life, too, Father on high.  In your Name let Him speak to us of your surpassing glory, a glory He shares with you and which He would share with us (as He has shared it with Abraham) if we would but listen and believe.  Be our God forever, LORD, as you promised Abraham.

(Gn.17:3-9;   Ps.105:4-9;   Jn.8:51-59)   “Before Abraham came to be, I AM.”   Abraham is a great man, the blessed patriarch, to whom God made the promise: “I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”  So Abraham becomes “the father of a host of nations,” not just by lineage, but by faith in the promise God has given him and the keeping of the covenant with Him.  Abraham is father to all who believe in the one God: the sons of Israel, the Jews; the sons of Ishmael, the Muslims; and all who worship the living Lord and “seek to serve Him constantly.” Yet as great as Abraham is, as fertile as he has become, Jesus is the greater and the more prosperous, for He Himself is the Lord our God, from whom Abraham receives his promise and so his greatness.  “Abraham rejoiced that he might see [Jesus'] day.  He saw it and was glad.”  For here come to us is the only Son of the God before whom he “prostrated himself”; here is the Lord of all the nations of whom Abraham is father. Jesus is equal with the Father, coeternal and all-powerful.  He does not make Himself so but receives such glory from the Father, with whom He is always.  How hard it is for the Jews to hear this.  Though according to their faith they have been waiting for just such arrival of the Holy One, of the Messiah, yet their hearts are unable to accept such divine wonder.  And so “they picked up rocks to throw at Jesus” upon His solemn declaration of His divinity. Is it not just so hard for all of us who call ourselves believers to come to terms with the awesome majesty of Jesus our God?  It seems something so far beyond our belief, that God could walk in our midst.  And yet HE IS; and so we must see how much greater than any man He is.  For though fully a man born in time and murdered upon a cross, yet He is God, living forever as Lord of all.  So great a gift, so wonderful a presence, is all that assures us that we “shall never see death” but be as He is, alive in the kingdom as He has promised.  Keep His word, and the Word of Life will be with you.    ******* O LORD, a greater than Abraham we have in your Son, for He is God with you – let us live forever in Him.  YHWH, your Son is God with you, dear Father, the great I AM; and He would bring us where you are, to a life that passes not away.  How could we die if we were with you?  For you are Life itself, and your Son with you. Abraham is the father of many nations; many lives came to be through him and all of faith find a father in him who was of the greatest faith.  But you are the Father of Abraham, dear LORD, and Jesus is your Son – and so Jesus Himself is as Abraham's Father, coming before him and giving life to him as He does. O may He give us life, too, Father on high.  In your Name let Him speak to us of your surpassing glory, a glory He shares with you and which He would share with us (as He has shared it with Abraham) if we would but listen and believe.  Be our God forever, LORD, as you promised Abraham.

Want to support the ministry and get access to exclusive content? Go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy John 8: 51-59 - 'Your father Abraham saw my day and was glad.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 473 (in 'Christ's Soul and his human knowledge') - But at the same time, this truly human knowledge of God's Son expressed the divine life of his person. "The human nature of God's Son, not by itself but by its union with the Word, knew and showed forth in itself everything that pertains to God." Such is first of all the case with the intimate and immediate knowledge that the Son of God made man has of his Father (abbreviated). - 590 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the one God and Saviour') - Only the divine identity of Jesus' person can justify so absolute a claim as "He who is not with me is against me"; and his saying that there was in him "something greater than Jonah,. . . greater than Solomon", something "greater than the Temple"; his reminder that David had called the Messiah his Lord, and his affirmations, "Before Abraham was, I AM", and even "I and the Father are one." - 574 (in 'Jesus and Israel') - From the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, certain Pharisees and partisans of Herod together with priests and scribes agreed together to destroy him. Because of certain acts of his expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the sabbath day, his novel interpretation of the precepts of the Law regarding purity, and his familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners --some ill-intentioned persons suspected Jesus of demonic possession. He is accused of blasphemy and false prophecy, religious crimes which the Law punished with death by stoning. Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/daily-gospel-exegesis/message

The artist who crafted Psalm 67 desired the choirmaster with a band of stringed instruments to lead Israel in singing about the ‘way’ of God. This ‘way’ was the desire of God for humanity to know Him and be saved through Him. It was in the calling of Abram that God originally created the Israelite nation who were to be a light to all the other nations about the true God (Gen. 12:1-3). God uses temporary people to make the eternal God known. Before Abraham, people sought God, Israel was to seek God, and Christians are to seek God so He can be known and be made known (Gen. 4:26; Amos 5:4; Heb. 11:6). Your one life is your one moment to give your one life to the one thing that matters—God’s fame (Ps. 46:10)!

Easter 2020 - God is Love Day 6. Jesus the “I AM” G’day! Welcome to our Easter 2020 series, God is Love, where for the next 30 days we look at Jesus Christ, the events of Easter and its consequences. Exodus 3:13-14: Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' Isaiah 41:4: “Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD -with the first of them and with the last—I am he” John 8:58: “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “Before Abraham was, I AM”. On seven other occasions in the Gospel of John, John records statements where Jesus said “I AM”. These are unique to John and are not recorded in the other three Gospels. In John 8:58, Jesus is reinforcing His claims to be God. When Jesus says “I AM”, he is referring back to the time when God revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14 and through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 41:4. That’s why in John 8:59, they picked up stones in order to kill Him for blasphemy. This was in accordance, so they thought, with Deuteronomy 13, which dictates that anyone who tries to turn people away from the living God is to be stoned to death. They knew Jesus was claiming to the very God they thought they worshipped. In these seven “I AM” statements, as well as equating Himself as God with the “I AM”, Jesus is also promoting his exclusivity as the only Saviour. As His disciples currently in the Western world, we get shouted at and criticized for holding such exclusive views. But if Jesus was not God and He was only one path to God, would Jesus have needed to go through the agony of the cross, as payment for the sins of the world? Of course he wouldn’t have needed to. That He did, shows that He is the only path and only means of access to God. It is only through the resurrected Jesus that salvation can be assured and then only by a childlike faith and not by any other means. That is why we should not capitulate to current trends to unite all religions, which says that all paths lead to God. Jesus Christ Himself, as we have seen, and will see, has said that He and He alone is the way to God and that salvation is only through His work on the cross for all those who trust and believe in Him. Jesus, the great “I AM!” Over the next 7 days we look at Jesus being the I AM of God as part of Easter 2020 series "God Is Love"! Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file Click or tap on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!

Today's Bible readings include Job 20 in which Zophar, Job's friend, will erroneously tell us that the wicked are always punished while on earth, and their plans never succeed in the long run. Luke 6 contains Luke's shortened version of the Beatitudes as well as Jesus' challenge to the Scribes and Pharisees about the Sabbath. 1 Corinthians 7 is a bit of a confusing passage (in places) that has lots of advice on marriage, including: 1. You don't have to get married, but you certainly can if you want to and you must if you are burning with sexual desire. 2. Husbands and wives have authority over each other's bodies. The husband has authority over his wife's body AND the wife has authority over her husband's body. One implication of this principle is that neither party is allowed to withhold regular sex from the other, with the ONLY exception being a mutually agreed upon break in order to more intentionally seek the Lord for a short season. Our focus passage is in Exodus 3 - the famous Burning Bush passage where God calls Moses and sends him to rescue the Hebrews. In this passage, God reveals His name and His nature to Moses in a deeper way than we have seen before, and our big question today is what is God's name, and what does His name mean? Let's read Exodus 3 and then discuss it. 13 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. Exodus 3:13-15 CSB 14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. 16 “Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egyptto the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. Exodus 3:14-18 Holman Christian Standard Bible YHWH First and foremost, I need to point out what appears to be a discrepancy, but actually isn't. The Christian Standard Bible, the translation we are reading through, uses LORD in vs 15 and following of Exodus 3. The Holman Christian Standard Bible, my favorite translation, uses 'Yahweh' in vs. 15 and following. What gives? The answer is that God gives Moses His name - His personal name! - in Exodus 3:14, and that name is Yahweh, in the Hebrew. His name means, "I am that I am," or "I am Because I am." Most modern Bible translations, the King James Bible included, translates 'Yahweh' to LORD with all capitals to indicate that God's name is being used. Why would they do this? There are a few reasons. For one, most modern Bibles are translations, and therefore they seek to translate every word from one language into another. Occasionally that is difficult when faced with Hapax Legomena (as mentioned in episode 47 ) and when faced with difficult or disputed words like Nephilim, discussed in episode #6. In those cases, translators sometimes resort to transliterations, which is an attempt to take the sound of a word in the source language (such as Biblical Hebrew or Greek) and represent it in the target language (such as English.) This obscures the MEANING of the word, but preserves the SOUND of the word. The trouble with doing this with Yahweh is that our original Hebrew Bibles don't have vowel sounds, only consonants. Because the early Hebrews refused to say God's name out loud, we don't know exactly how the name should be pronounced, because we only have the four Hebrew consonants. Let's tag in Gotquestions.org to help us understand this dynamic better: In the original Hebrew, God’s name transliterates to YHWH (sometimes written in the older style as YHVH). This is known as the tetragrammaton (meaning “four letters”). Because of the lack of vowels, Bible scholars debate how the tetragrammaton YHWH was pronounced.The tetragrammaton consists of four Hebrew letters: yodh, he, waw, and then he repeated. Some versions of the Bible translate the tetragrammaton as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”; most translate it as “LORD” (all capital letters).Contrary to what some Christians believe (and at least one cult), Jehovah is not the Divine Name revealed to Israel. The name Jehovah is a product of mixing different words and different alphabets of different languages. Due to a fear of accidentally taking God’s name in vain (Leviticus 24:16), the Jews basically quit saying it out loud altogether. Instead, when reading Scripture aloud, the Jews substituted the tetragrammaton YHWH with the word Adonai (“Lord”). Even in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the translators substituted Kurios (“Lord”) for the Divine Name. Eventually, the vowels from Adonai (“Lord”) or Elohim (“God”) found their way in between the consonants of YHWH, thus forming YaHWeH. But this interpolation of vowels does not mean that was how God’s name was originally pronounced. In fact, we aren’t entirely sure if YHWH should have two syllables or three.Any number of vowel sounds can be inserted within YHWH, and Jewish scholars are as uncertain of the real pronunciation as Christian scholars are. Jehovah is actually a much later (probably 16th-century) variant. The word Jehovah comes from a three-syllable version of YHWH, YeHoWeH. The Y was replaced with a J (although Hebrew does not even have a J sound) and the W with a V, plus the extra vowel in the middle, resulting in JeHoVaH. https://www.gotquestions.org/YHWH-tetragrammaton.html God's name is Yahweh, and - even though we don't know exactly how to pronounce it, we know what it means - it means that God is the ONLY non-created, non-caused being in the multiverse. Where did God come from? He is, because He is. Who created God? Nobody - He is because He is. How did God become God - He always has been - He is, because He is. We pointed out in episode #31 of this pod that there are many elohims (spiritual beings/gods with a little 'g') mentioned in the Bible, but there is only ONE Yahweh. He is the GOD above Gods, LORD of all Lords, KING Of Kings. There is no one beside God - He is that He is. Interestingly, the name 'Jesus,' comes from Yahweh as well. It means, 'Yahweh Saves,' or, 'salvation is of Yahweh.' And one of the most obvious ways that Jesus told us that He was God was by using God's name in John 8. John Piper shared about this in a sermon from 2011, and I think that this will be a good closer for us: So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” There it is—the clearest, most forthright claim in this Gospel that Jesus is Yahweh, the God of Israel, the great “I am” of Exodus 3:14 and the prophets. If he only wanted to claim pre-existence, he could have said, “Before Abraham was, I was.” But he means to say more than mere pre-existence. He says, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Exodus 3:14: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you."’ ” John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014).

Today's Bible readings include Job 20 in which Zophar, Job's friend, will erroneously tell us that the wicked are always punished while on earth, and their plans never succeed in the long run. Luke 6 contains Luke's shortened version of the Beatitudes as well as Jesus' challenge to the Scribes and Pharisees about the Sabbath. 1 Corinthians 7 is a bit of a confusing passage (in places) that has lots of advice on marriage, including: 1. You don't have to get married, but you certainly can if you want to and you must if you are burning with sexual desire. 2. Husbands and wives have authority over each other's bodies. The husband has authority over his wife's body AND the wife has authority over her husband's body. One implication of this principle is that neither party is allowed to withhold regular sex from the other, with the ONLY exception being a mutually agreed upon break in order to more intentionally seek the Lord for a short season. Our focus passage is in Exodus 3 - the famous Burning Bush passage where God calls Moses and sends him to rescue the Hebrews. In this passage, God reveals His name and His nature to Moses in a deeper way than we have seen before, and our big question today is what is God's name, and what does His name mean? Let's read Exodus 3 and then discuss it. 13 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. Exodus 3:13-15 CSB 14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation. 16 “Go and assemble the elders of Israel and say to them: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and said: I have paid close attention to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egyptto the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey. 18 They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. Exodus 3:14-18 Holman Christian Standard Bible YHWH First and foremost, I need to point out what appears to be a discrepancy, but actually isn't. The Christian Standard Bible, the translation we are reading through, uses LORD in vs 15 and following of Exodus 3. The Holman Christian Standard Bible, my favorite translation, uses 'Yahweh' in vs. 15 and following. What gives? The answer is that God gives Moses His name - His personal name! - in Exodus 3:14, and that name is Yahweh, in the Hebrew. His name means, "I am that I am," or "I am Because I am." Most modern Bible translations, the King James Bible included, translates 'Yahweh' to LORD with all capitals to indicate that God's name is being used. Why would they do this? There are a few reasons. For one, most modern Bibles are translations, and therefore they seek to translate every word from one language into another. Occasionally that is difficult when faced with Hapax Legomena (as mentioned in episode 47 ) and when faced with difficult or disputed words like Nephilim, discussed in episode #6. In those cases, translators sometimes resort to transliterations, which is an attempt to take the sound of a word in the source language (such as Biblical Hebrew or Greek) and represent it in the target language (such as English.) This obscures the MEANING of the word, but preserves the SOUND of the word. The trouble with doing this with Yahweh is that our original Hebrew Bibles don't have vowel sounds, only consonants. Because the early Hebrews refused to say God's name out loud, we don't know exactly how the name should be pronounced, because we only have the four Hebrew consonants. Let's tag in Gotquestions.org to help us understand this dynamic better: In the original Hebrew, God’s name transliterates to YHWH (sometimes written in the older style as YHVH). This is known as the tetragrammaton (meaning “four letters”). Because of the lack of vowels, Bible scholars debate how the tetragrammaton YHWH was pronounced.The tetragrammaton consists of four Hebrew letters: yodh, he, waw, and then he repeated. Some versions of the Bible translate the tetragrammaton as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”; most translate it as “LORD” (all capital letters).Contrary to what some Christians believe (and at least one cult), Jehovah is not the Divine Name revealed to Israel. The name Jehovah is a product of mixing different words and different alphabets of different languages. Due to a fear of accidentally taking God’s name in vain (Leviticus 24:16), the Jews basically quit saying it out loud altogether. Instead, when reading Scripture aloud, the Jews substituted the tetragrammaton YHWH with the word Adonai (“Lord”). Even in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), the translators substituted Kurios (“Lord”) for the Divine Name. Eventually, the vowels from Adonai (“Lord”) or Elohim (“God”) found their way in between the consonants of YHWH, thus forming YaHWeH. But this interpolation of vowels does not mean that was how God’s name was originally pronounced. In fact, we aren’t entirely sure if YHWH should have two syllables or three.Any number of vowel sounds can be inserted within YHWH, and Jewish scholars are as uncertain of the real pronunciation as Christian scholars are. Jehovah is actually a much later (probably 16th-century) variant. The word Jehovah comes from a three-syllable version of YHWH, YeHoWeH. The Y was replaced with a J (although Hebrew does not even have a J sound) and the W with a V, plus the extra vowel in the middle, resulting in JeHoVaH. https://www.gotquestions.org/YHWH-tetragrammaton.html God's name is Yahweh, and - even though we don't know exactly how to pronounce it, we know what it means - it means that God is the ONLY non-created, non-caused being in the multiverse. Where did God come from? He is, because He is. Who created God? Nobody - He is because He is. How did God become God - He always has been - He is, because He is. We pointed out in episode #31 of this pod that there are many elohims (spiritual beings/gods with a little 'g') mentioned in the Bible, but there is only ONE Yahweh. He is the GOD above Gods, LORD of all Lords, KING Of Kings. There is no one beside God - He is that He is. Interestingly, the name 'Jesus,' comes from Yahweh as well. It means, 'Yahweh Saves,' or, 'salvation is of Yahweh.' And one of the most obvious ways that Jesus told us that He was God was by using God's name in John 8. John Piper shared about this in a sermon from 2011, and I think that this will be a good closer for us: So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” There it is—the clearest, most forthright claim in this Gospel that Jesus is Yahweh, the God of Israel, the great “I am” of Exodus 3:14 and the prophets. If he only wanted to claim pre-existence, he could have said, “Before Abraham was, I was.” But he means to say more than mere pre-existence. He says, “Before Abraham was, I am.” Exodus 3:14: “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you."’ ” John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (2000–2014) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2014).

You are your father the Devil. Before Abraham was, I Am. Jesus heal a man born blind

- Thanks to Hallow for sponsoring this episode. To get started, click here: https://hallow.app/portal/#/PrayerPlan/?referrer=mattfradd - Hey, be cool and support us on Patreon. You'll become immediately more attractive to the opposite sex. Okay, I can't prove that ... but it's possible. Right? Support us here: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd - Here is the text from Aquinas we read today: “And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.” It is not only necessary for Christians to believe in one God who is the Creator of heaven and earth and of all things; but also they must believe that God is the Father and that Christ is the true Son of God. This, as St. Peter says, is not mere fable, but is certain and proved by the word of God on the Mount of Transfiguration. “For we have not by following artificial fables made known to you the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ; but we were eyewitnesses of His greatness. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, this voice coming down to Him from the excellent glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.’ And this voice, we heard brought from heaven, when we were with Him in the holy mount” [2 Pet 1:16]. Christ Jesus Himself in many places called God His Father, and Himself the Son of God. Both the Apostles and the Fathers placed in the articles of faith that Christ is the Son of God by saying: “And (I believe) in Jesus Christ, His (i.e., God’s) only Son”. Errors There were, however, certain heretics who erred in this belief. Photinus, for instance, believed that Christ is not the Son of God but a good man who, by a good life and by doing the will of God, merited to be called the son of God by adoption; and so Christ who lived a good life and did the will of God merited to be called the son of God. Moreover, this error would not have Christ living before the Blessed Virgin, but would have Him begin to exist only at His conception. Accordingly, there are here two errors: the first, that Christ is not the true Son of God according to His nature; and the second, that Christ in His entire being began to exist in time. Our faith, however, holds that He is the Son of God in His nature, and that he is from all eternity. Now, we have definite authority against these errors in the Holy Scriptures, Against the first error it is said that Christ is not only the Son, but also the only-begotten Son of the Father: “The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him:” [Jn 1:18]. And again the second error it is said: “Before Abraham was made, I AM” [Jn 8:58]. It is evident that Abraham lived before the Blessed Virgin. And what the Fathers added to the other [Nicene] Creed, namely, “the only-begotten Son of God,” is against the first error; and “born of the Father before all ages” is against the second error. Sabellius said that Christ indeed was before the Blessed Virgin, but he held that the Father Himself became incarnate and, therefore, the Father and the Son is the same Person. This is an error because it takes away the Trinity of Persons in God, and against it is this authority: “I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me” [Jn 8:16]. It is clear that one cannot be sent from himself. Sabellius errs therefore, and in the [Nicene] Creed of the Fathers it is said: “God of God; Light of Light,” that is, we are to believe in God the Son from God the Father, and the Son who is Light from the Father who is Light. Arius, although he would say that Christ was before the Blessed Virgin and that the Person of the Father is other than the Person of the Son, nevertheless made a three-fold attribution to Christ: (1) that the Son of God was a creature; (2) that He is not from eternity, but was formed the noblest of all creatures in time by God; (3) that God the Son is not of one nature with God the Father, and therefore that He was not true God. But this too is erroneous and contrary to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. It is written: “I and the Father are one” [Jn 10:30]. That is, in nature; and therefore, just as the Father always existed, so also the Son; and just as the Father is true God, so also is the Son. That Christ is a creature, as said by Arius, is contradicted in the “Symbol” by the Fathers: “True God of true God;” and the assertion that Christ is not from eternity but in time is also contrary to the [Nicene] Creed: “Begotten not made;” and finally, that Christ is not of the same substance as the Father is denied by the [Nicene] Creed: “Consubstantial with the Father.” The truth It is, therefore, clear we must believe that Christ is the Only-begotten of God, and the true Son of God, who always was with the Father, and that there is one Person of the Son and another of the Father who have the same divine nature. All this we believe now through faith, but we shall know it with a perfect vision in the life eternal. Hence, we shall now speak somewhat of this for our own edification. It must be known that different things have different modes of generation. The generation of God is different from that of other things. Hence, we cannot arrive at a notion of divine generation except through the generation of that created thing which more closely approaches to a likeness to God. We have seen that nothing approaches in likeness to God more than the human soul. The manner of generation in the soul is effected in the thinking process in the soul of man, which is called a conceiving of the intellect. This conception takes its rise in the soul as from a father, and its effect is called the word of the intellect or of man. In brief, the soul by its act of thinking begets the word. So also the Son of God is the Word of God, not like a word that is uttered exteriorly (for this is transitory), but as a word is interiorly conceived; and this Word of God is of the one nature as God and equal to God. The testimony of St. John concerning the Word of God destroys these three heresies, viz., that of Photinus in the words: “In the beginning was the Word;” that of Sabellius in saying: “And the Word was with God;” and that of Arius when it says: “And the Word was God” [Jn 1:1]. But a word in us is not the same as the Word in God. In us the word is an accident; whereas in God the Word is the same as God, since there is nothing in God that is not of the essence of God. No one would say God has not a Word, because such would make God wholly without knowledge; and therefore, as God always existed, so also did His Word ever exist. Just as a sculptor works from a form which he has previously thought out, which is his word; so also God makes all things by His Word, as it were through His art: “All things were made by Him” [Jn 1:3]. Now, if the Word of God is the Son of God and all the words of God bear a certain likeness of this Word, then we ought to hear the Word of God gladly; for such is a sign that we love God. We ought also believe the word of God whereby the Word of God dwells in us, who is Christ: “That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts” [Eph 3:17]. “And you have not His word abiding in you” [Jn 5:38]. But we ought not only to believe that the Word of God dwells in us, but also we should meditate often upon this; for otherwise we will not be benefitted to the extent that such meditation is a great help against sin: your words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against You” [Ps 108:11]. Again it is said of the just man: “On His law he shall meditate day and night” [Ps 1:2]. And it is said of the Blessed Virgin that she “kept all these words, pondering them in her heart” [Lk 2:19]. Then also, one should communicate the word of God to others by advising, preaching and inflaming their hearts: “Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth; but that which is good, to the edification of faith” [Eph 4:29]. Likewise, “let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another” [Col 3:16]. So also: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine” [2 Tim 4:2]. Finally, we ought to put the word of God into practice: “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” [James 1:22]. The Blessed Virgin observed these five points when she gave birth to the Word of God. First, she heard what was said to her: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you” [Lk 1:35]. Then she gave her consent through faith: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” [Lk 1:38]. And she also received and carried the Word in her womb. Then she brought forth the Word of God and, finally, she nourished and cared for Him. And so the Church sings: “Only a Virgin nourished Him who is King of the Angels” [Fourth Responsory, Office of the Circumcision, Dominican Breviary.].

Jesus declares His divinity by claiming His eternal pre-existence. Before Abraham was, I AM.

Let’s deal with some biblical history: Before Abraham expressed faith and before he was even around, there were three very significant figures. All three of these figures, all in Genesis, just like Abraham had very significant and meaningful interactions with God. But Abraham who came after them was named the father of faith. Adam, according to Luke 3:38 was the son of God. He was formed in God’s image and likeness, he was the first of his kind, He walked with God in the cool of the day, and the word that God spoke to Adam was passed down from generation to generation when Moses wrote it down. I presume it was Adam who passed it down to his son. Passing God’s word from God’s mouth to someone else is the work of a prophet. Yes! If the presumption that Adam passed God’s word down to his sons and daughters is true, that makes Adam very prophetic and the first of his kind. All that and he still wasn’t known as the father of faith.Enoch, had 6 verses in Gen 5, but he had the best possible conclusion a person can have after walking on this side of the universe. He was caught up to be with God. He didn’t die. He concluded this side of eternity without dying. Only one other man is recorded as having done that in the scriptures, and neither Enoch or Elijah were known as the father of faith.In Gen 6 Noah, built a boat on land and told people it was going to rain. The boat was big enough for his family and every type of animal God sent his way because all the rest of mankind corrupted itself. Then God literally restarted humanity with Noah after the universal flood. Noah was literally the reboot of humanity and Noah still wasn’t considered the father of faith. Are you questioning yet?

John 8:48-59 (KJV) 48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? 49 Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. 50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. 51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.    

Listen: John 8:52-59 Sermon “Jesus said to them, ‘I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.’ ” Visit the Big Creek EPC sermon archives.

During the Festival of Shelters, Jesus goes to Judea to preach and teach even though some of the Jews were trying to kill him. They were angry with him for healing a lame man on the Sabbath, but Jesus defends his position soundly in the face of opposition. The crowd is divided about whether or not he is the Messiah. As he continues teaching, he claims to be equal to God the Father, saying, “Before Abraham was, I AM” referring to God who identifies himself as the great “I AM.” They consider this to be blasphemous, and pick up stones to kill him, but he escapes. Later, Jesus heals on the Sabbath again, only this time, he opens the eyes of the blind.Note: The earliest manuscripts do not contain the account of the forgiven adulteress.:::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by Eric Williamson.facebook.com/commuterbibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" overlay_color="" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" padding_top="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" padding_right=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="no" min_height="" hover_type="none" link=""][fusion_text][/fusion_text][fusion_text]  Transcription (was completed by automated process.  Please ignore any speech-to-text errors) [00:00:01] Hi. How are you? [00:00:03] I'm good. [00:00:05] Great. Well, I'm so excited about today. To all of you out there listening, this is Danny Thomas again. And I'm super excited to be here on our next version of Sellers Calling You a Beatty. Michael. As you all know, Beatty is the CEO of Master Grabber and the creator, Agent Dominator, one of our top marketing experts in the real estate field. Beatty, I'm excited. What are we talking about today? [00:00:30] Well, today on this radical faith call, which obviously has nothing to do with the real estate marketing, we're gonna be talking about the topic of God's timing versus man's timing. Have you ever had those experiences in your life anywhere? Maybe God had indicated something was going to happen and it just keeps taking longer and longer and longer. It hasn't happened. Or, you know, you're seeking the Lord in prayer and asking for some sort of answer and or an outcome. And it just doesn't seem to happen quite as quickly as you want. [00:01:09] Ever had that goodness? Probably more times than I care to admit to. [00:01:17] And I got frustrated one day, I'm sure, probably many days. And I said, what in the world is going on? Right. God. Until I made this. And yet, where is it? Like Abraham or back when he was Abraham, God said, you're gonna have a son, Abraham. And you're going to have descendants like the stars of heaven. You know how long it took for Abraham to get that promise? [00:01:42] A very long time, 25 years. [00:01:49] And yet he never wavered on something that Lord hit me. I'm reading through Hebrews and he's talking about the men of faith. And one things that says that Abraham believe God for the promise and therefore he was willing to offer up his son, Isaac. And it hit me what that was really all about. I always thought that connection. And this has nothing to do with guys timing, but it kind of ties into it. And it dawned on me, faces in the amplified Bible says Faith is the title deeds of things we do not see yet. And so I was thinking was Abraham, you know, he has this title. The title Deeds says, through Isaac, all of these descendants are coming. And therefore, Abraham had no qualms about sacrificing his son because he knew the promise was good. The title, they would say, was solid and therefore nothing could sort that promise from coming true. So God, if you want me, I offer up Isaac. No big deal because I know something's going to happen because you can't fulfill your promise except through Isaac and therefore it's all temporary. I just thought that was kind of a cool understanding. [00:03:15] Yeah. Yeah. [00:03:17] So let's get into this whole topic of God's timing versus man's timing and where I think the problems come from. If I were to ask a couple of questions, kind of setting this up, the questions I would want to ask are going to be things like why does God delay in answering our prayers that are clearly according to his will? [00:03:45] And I think it's in James that if you pray according to his will, we know that he hears us. And if we know he hears that, we know that we will receive that for which we are familiar with that passage. [00:03:58] Okay. So we're asking clearly, according to God's will. Here's something that comes up a lot of times, especially for parents. Lord, I know it's your will for my child to have a personal saving relationship with you and you pray for that child. He or she is now 20, 25 and 30. And 35 and 40. And 45 and 45 and 50. Okay. And your keep do you keep praying? [00:04:24] And why isn't God answering that? Or maybe another question. Sometimes we act on God's promises and yet we don't see the results we feel we should have. I think Abraham was perfect. Just kind of a case study on that. He's living by faith. And yet where is this child? And then he has his child, Isaac, and he's living by faith. And now God says to sacrifice him. [00:04:50] And it seems like what God has promised and the fulfillment. [00:04:58] Something's missing in that. Gradient, does that make sense? [00:05:02] Yeah, absolutely. [00:05:05] Maybe another type of issue is God. I know you say I'm been healed. Why am I still sick? I'm praying for my healing. Or money. All these things in our lives where we can go back to scripture and we clearly see God's promise. [00:05:29] And we feel that that promise is spoken to us. The scripture gets into us that this is God's promise to us, and yet we don't see things happening. What's happening? There's lots of things that can be going on. Faith, belief, timing. But I want to try to bring some focus into timing on this call and to start off. I'd like you to read a passage for us. And the passage is Mark Levin versus 22, 23, 24. And just to kind of set the stage on this passage, disciples have just come to Jesus and asked a question. And Jesus is now going to teach them about faith. And that's kind of where we are. But within faith is timing. And this is what's going to be real interesting. So let me know when you're ready. [00:06:31] Okay. All right. I'm ready, Mark. Eleven, twenty or 24. Then Jesus said to the disciples, Have faith in God. I'm telling you the truth. You can say to this mountain, may you be lifted up and thrown into the sea. And that will happen. But you must really believe that will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything. And if you believe that you receive that, it will be yours. [00:07:00] Ok, so here's we kind of have two things going along. We have faith and timing. Obviously, we cannot pray. [00:07:09] Without faith and expect to receive it, James says the person who doubts not expect to receive anything from the Lord. But then we also have an element of timing and the timing is in that very last sentence. So read that last part for me again. [00:07:26] Okay, I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you received it, it will be yours. [00:07:34] If you believe that you've received it is received past, present or future tense. [00:07:44] Okay, so if you believe that you've received it. It's already years. That's what he's saying, right? [00:07:52] Mm hmm. When did you get it? Put the next part. [00:07:57] It will be yours, it will be yours. [00:07:59] This will be past, present or future. [00:08:05] I actually think it could be present and future will be. [00:08:11] Does that mean it's right now? [00:08:13] No, that's future. [00:08:15] Okay, so here's the problem that we're running into. [00:08:21] Past tense. I believe I've already received it, but future tense will be granted to me. Do you see the problem? [00:08:32] It's a problem because in our physical world, everything is based on a linear chronicle chronological time. But when you get into the spirit realm. Time really isn't quite so linear. And faith for the most part, has no time constraint at all. We may talk about that a little bit later on. I don't want to go there, but I just want to kind of pose the problem that the problem we're running into with God's timing versus man is God operates in a different frame than we do. And faith operates in a different frame. Faith says you must first believe that it is years that you actually hold that title deed in your hand. And then in the future it's going to be granted. You're granted. And so now we go, Lord is mine. Where is it? Right? You say I'm healed. Where's my healing? You say. He will be safe. Where's the salvation? You say you're going to get us out of this terrible mess we're in. When is it going to happen? Because I've been praying a long time and it hasn't happened. And so we have this constant stress in our life. If we're not careful, but this level of anxiety and level of confusion as to what's going on, and that's that's where the challenge starts to come. So I want to talk about two rooms. I want to talk about the spirit realm and the physical realm. And we see this used throughout scripture and even in our own vernacular, lots of different ways. You have the natural and you have the supernatural. [00:10:15] That's the same thing as the physical versus the spiritual, which is the same thing as the earthly realm versus the heavenly realm. All of these are basically interchangeable because there's this contrast between what we see in the visible world and what actually occurs in the invisible. Are you following me so far on that? [00:10:42] Yes. Yes. [00:10:44] So here's another question for you. If you were to put us on, put it on a scale and weight 1 as greater than the other. Are we? [00:11:00] More natural or supernatural? Or said another way. Are we more physical or spiritual? [00:11:12] Are you asking for my personal opinion? Yes. My personal opinion is that I am more spiritual than I am natural because I believe that my spirit is the only thing that's going to live for eternity, either in heaven or in hell and in my case, in heaven. So I believe that I'm more spiritual than I am physical. [00:11:32] Yes. And I would agree with that. And I would agree with it. For those same reasons. But I would agree with it for one additional reason. If you look at it as you look at authority and control, does the physical have authority over and therefore control over the spiritual realm? [00:11:57] Or do you think the spiritual realm has authority and control over the physical realm? Or are they completely separate and neither one impacts the other? Which one do you think? Which of those three options? [00:12:10] I think the spiritual has control over this goal, but I also believe that whatever you give the most control to or allow to control has the. The most authority over you. In other words. [00:12:30] Yes. Yes. Yes, I agree. [00:12:34] But if we can start with the premise. Or the truth that the spirit realm has authority and control over the physical realm and that there's something there. It doesn't mean that every single thing that occurs in the physical is driven by the spirit, but it does mean that in the hierarchy of things, the spirit realm has authority and impacts the physical realm much more than the physical realm impacts the spirit. It's kind of a one way direction on a two way. There are things we do in our lives that can impact our life. But I would say that those things we do in our lives impact our lives first and foremost, because they either neglect what goes on in the spirit realm or they take advantage of what goes on in the spirit room. When we focus on ourselves and on our own situation as opposed to focus on God, we get one outcome. But when we focus on and trust in the Lord, we get a different outcome. Does that make sense? Yeah. So what we do in the physical impacts, but ultimately if we do in the physical is either rejecting or neglecting the spirit or it is falling in line with the spirit. [00:14:02] And therefore it's still the spiritual side of what goes on that makes the impact in our lives. Is that. [00:14:11] Yeah, it's a matter of fact, I was thinking when you were saying that I was just thinking about creation, creation of the world God created. He spoke and the world came into being. But all of that came after the spirit. That to me, I mean, that was just something that popped in my head. I'm like, okay, well, clearly the spirit realm has authority because the created world came through the spirit realm. [00:14:40] Yes. Bingo. And so when we start to understand that, then things start to make a little bit more sense because we're so trained, we only look in the physical, we don't look in the spirit. [00:14:53] And I'm not talking about we have to have spiritual, spiritual eyes and see in the spirit realm like a like a quote unquote, a or. But we can't neglect what's going on in that room. So let's move into an element of the spiritual realm. And since you brought up creation, let's go there real quickly. Let's go to Genesis 1 1, Genesis 1 1. [00:15:22] Genesis 1 1. [00:15:24] Before you go out on me, I want to set the stage as we read these. We read them with an understanding of where we're going. I want to show us that God transcends time. That God is outside of the realm of time. And because he's outside the realm of time. What we think of this time or when something shouldn't happen is different from our perspective than his perspective. And I want to first take that up from scripture and then I'm going to give you kind of walk you through an example of how this operates within our lives. And it's really cool. So let's let you region says 1 1 1 1. [00:16:07] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [00:16:11] All right. So in the beginning, God created. In the beginning. God already existed. Does that make sense? [00:16:25] Yeah. [00:16:27] So we have this first statement of guys, the eternal existence. That exists. I want to say even before time. Give me a moment. I'll back that up scripturally. Let's now turn to John 858. [00:16:53] All right. John, eight fifty eight. Jesus answered, I tell you the truth. Before Abraham was even born, I am. [00:17:06] So now we have Jesus claiming that he existed not only before Abraham, but that Jesus exists eternally. That's what I mean. That means I am. It's not that I was or I was created. It's an eternal existence. The same as with the Lord. And we know obviously of God as these exist eternally so as Jesus because they're one. All right. So let's look at let's look at Titus. 1 2. This is going to be really cool. We're getting closer. [00:17:42] We want to be. Go ahead. [00:17:44] All right, Titus 1, verse 2. This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God who does not lie promised then before the world began. [00:17:58] Promised before the world began, the amplified Bible says, before the world or the ages of time began. So now we're getting a little bit closer that scriptures are starting to indicate God existed before time. But let's look at one final verse. Let's go to Jude. 1 and we're going to read 24 and 25. [00:18:30] June 1, 24, 25. Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away. And we'll bring you with great joy into his Gore's presence without a single fault. All glory to him. Who alone is God? Our Savior. Jesus Christ, our Lord. All glory, majesty. Power and authority are his before all time and in the present and beyond time. [00:18:59] And that call for all time. [00:19:03] And now beyond all time here, we have scriptural reference that says. God created time because God existed before time began. When we start to look at God's promises. And the impact of this whole thing called faith, believe you have received it passed. And then it will be years, future tense. We can't reconcile this problem in the natural because the natural is bound by time. But when we move outside of the realm of time now, it's really easy to reconcile what's going on. And the more we can understand from God's perspective, the more we can live in a way that honors, the more we live by faith and faith in a very simplistic type of definition. [00:20:01] I mean, it's multifaceted, so you can't just put it in a single box. But ultimately, faith is seeing everything from God's perspective because it's seeing it through his eyes and not our eyes through what he knows as truth, not what we think of as reality. This kind of forming making sense. So I want to I want to use a tube as an example. So picture a tube like a garden hose. Okay. So imagine right now you've got a 10 foot garden hose. With a 10 foot garden hose, it's hollow all the way through and I can put water in the front end of that garden hose and that water is going to travel through the garden hose and go out the other end. Are you picturing the picture right now? [00:20:54] Yeah, yeah. [00:20:56] So this garden hose, in essence, represents time. Time starts at the beginning. You put some water in at the beginning and then over time it comes out on the other end. If we were to look at the garden hose as time, then you could say that that garden hose starts in Genesis, the creation of the heavens and the earth, and it ends in Revelation, the new heavens and the new earth and everything that happens through Genesis, through Exodus, through first and second Samuel into Chronicles, into the mind all the way through the New Testament. There's this linear timeline that those events are traveling through this garden hose of time. [00:21:52] Picture that if we were to take a zoom in on that garden hose. Now, that garden hose can represent your life. And my life from the point that we born travelling through to the point that we die, everything in our life is contained within that garden hose because that garden hose is time. Now, here's something interesting in this garden hose. Let's assume that you you were to become like the old movie, Honey, I Shrunk the kids. Right. So you become really tiny and you get a an inner tube and it's really tiny and you start the journey at the beginning of that hose. All right. If there are waterfalls. This is a 10 foot hose. If there's a big waterfall at marker number four foot and you're just starting the hose, do you see those waterfalls? [00:22:58] No. [00:22:58] No. When did you get to see those waterfalls? When do you get to experience that waterfall, when you're going through the hose, when it was like right behind you. [00:23:08] About to take you out. [00:23:09] That's right. When you're right there. Okay. Now let's. Now, let's assume for a moment did that garden hose is made out of clear plastic. Okay. So you're the honey who shrunk the kids, let's say. I know I'm the guy who shrunk the kids and I shrunk you and you're starting on your journey through your hose and foot. Number four, there's a raging waterfall. You don't see it until you get there. But I'm outside of the hose. Do I see it before you get there? Oh, yeah. Do I see it as you begin your journey at the very beginning of the hose? Yes. Yeah. Not only do I see the waterfall at foot number four, but I see also what happens at foot number eight, nine and ten. Does that make sense? Yes. Why do I see it? You don't. [00:24:09] Because you're on the outside. [00:24:13] I'm on the outside looking in. So now let's take this hose a little bit closer. So let's say, for example, that I am God, I'm not. But let's say that I was in this example and you were Penny and I see you traveling through your homes. And in that traveling through, you ask me, I really want this special gift. And I promise you, I have already given it to you. Now, you're right now on foot. Number five. I put that gift at foot number six. Here's the question. Did I already give you the gift? [00:25:10] Have you already received it? No. Hold on. Pray you have received it. Have I given it to you? [00:25:22] Yes. If I've given it to you, then have you received it? Yes. Okay. When will you take physical, physical possession of that gift? [00:25:36] When I get to it, you get to it. [00:25:40] So now we start to get this understanding. How can you receive past tense? And yet it will be your future tense. Okay. And you can receive it because when God gives a gift, he's not operating inside of our homes. He's operating on the outside of it because he created the hose. He sees the whole thing. [00:26:12] Hmm hmm hmm hmm. [00:26:13] He's going to put that gift marker number six feet and says, I have given it to you. And then it's your job to go down the hose until you receive possession, but you have to believe. Okay, so let me share some other fun implications of this. [00:26:34] When was Jesus crucified? According to the Bible. [00:26:40] As far as age. [00:26:44] When was he crucified? [00:26:47] Well, he was crucified in 30, and it was a time after Passover. [00:26:58] And then when the time line. [00:27:02] Was he crucified? [00:27:06] Let's say he was crucified on. It was Passover the next day. I believe the day after Passover is when he was crucified. [00:27:18] All right. All right. So what year would that be, roughly? Generally speaking, let's say. [00:27:32] A lot of math, I guess we know about 33 is a calendar date. But here's the question. According to the Bible, Quinn was crucified. [00:27:51] That's a good question. [00:27:53] According to the Bible, he was crucified before the world began. [00:28:00] Yes. Do you remember that that's in Revelations crucified the lamb, crucified before the foundation of the world. [00:28:11] So how could he have been crucified before the foundation of the world and yet. Two thousand years ago, we see him up on a cross. [00:28:21] Yeah, that's really good. [00:28:26] What's the implication? The implication is. Kind of a lot. Boy, this could go really deep if I'm not careful. So let me make it simple. So let's go back to the timeline of just 2000 years. We're going to keep this kind of simple at the point of crucified crucifixion or at that point of of Jesus becoming the lamb slain for the righteous to make us righteous. [00:28:56] Then when you accept Christ as your savior. Are your sins forgiven immediately, immediately. [00:29:10] Is it only past sense or future sense as well? Okay, but you haven't committed those sins yet. So how can it be that when you ask Christ to come into your life, that you're forgiven for all past sins? And those that have yet to commit. [00:29:35] Well, because I'm not perfect and there's only one perfect person, Jesus Christ, because I'm a human and not perfect. It's very possible that I'm going to sin in my life. God's saying I'm going to go ahead and take care of that. [00:29:51] God's guarding all say I'm going to take care of it. But a little bit more. Let's look from God's perspective, not man's perspective. So I've got this. This 10 foot clear plastic garden hose in front of me that represents all of the generation of men from Genesis to Revelation. Somewhere around probably foot number five, let's call it somewhere halfway in that process. It could have been before or after the physical time chronologically when Jesus comes to earth and is crucified. And at that point, God says sins are forgiven. Right. [00:30:38] So when he says sins are forgiven, he's speaking that truth outside of the timeline, outside of the tube. And therefore, it impacts the entire to not only those who look forward to the coming of the messiah and their faith was counted to them as righteousness, but also those that come after that chronological point in time that look backwards to what Christ did. Their faith is counted to them as righteousness and righteousness means a sense have been forgiven. Follow me. Yes. Okay. So what that means is that chronological point in time when we say, Lord, forgive me of my sins, please come into my heart. Just say whatever little simple commitment that we make. It is in the spirit realm already done for our entire life. We have been made righteous in our life, not just to that point. That's kind of the technical reason. There is a very simplistic version of technical reason why when we've asked Jesus into our life, our sins are forgiven, including those that we have not yet done. We don't know we're going to do that, but God looks in that little clear plastic tubing, says, shame on you. But I've already forgiven you. He knows what's going to happen and it's all been forgiven. [00:32:11] Yeah. Yeah. [00:32:14] Okay, so then. We ask for a special gift or God gives us a promise of something to come. [00:32:24] And now we have a slight variation to this tube that I have to make to help illustrate what's going on within this timeline. Have you ever seen one of those little splitters that you can put on a garden hose that you screwed in one end and then it has basically to end so you can now have two garden hoses coming out of one? You know what I'm talking about? [00:32:47] Yes, I do. Okay. So that is a decision junction on this garden garden hose of our time. So now here's the point. I want you to understand. I want you to see if we can make this simple. So you're cruising along because I shrunk you. You're on your little inner tube going through your clear plastic tube of your life and you don't know what's coming ahead of you because you can't see it. But I as God, I see everything that's going on. I know what's going to happen before you even know what's going to happen. And therefore, I can say, Penny, trust me, I got your back on this one. Okay. [00:33:29] So now God says, first off, let me come back and ask a question. Do you think there have been any times when you've asked God for help? It would have been within his will that you receive that blessing, but for whatever reason, you never received it. [00:33:56] I'm not going to do. [00:33:59] Not that you just have been delayed receiving it, but maybe you missed out on the blessing deeply. That's possible. [00:34:06] I do. I do. [00:34:09] Yeah. Because we even see this back in that passage. What was it? Mark Levin, 24 What ever you pray and believe that you received them and they shall be granted you. What if we don't believe that we receive them? Is it possible that we miss out on those things that we've asked God for? [00:34:32] Yes, because I think even if it's there, if you don't believe, you're not going see it. [00:34:39] Yes, absolutely. So now this takes me into the decision junction and this is now another element of God's timing. God says first you ask. You ask me. I'm God and this little example, you asked me, God, I really want this special gift. And I somehow communicate back to you, says Penny. I've given it to you. Now, believe it. You're to believe that you've received it. [00:35:18] What I do at that moment is ahead of you. [00:35:22] We have a decision junction and I place that gift on the left hand junction. The left hand junction, actually, we'll call it the right him, because that's more biblically accurate. So on the right hand junction, you get to the fork. You can go left or right on the right hand junction. I place your gift to face. On the left hand junction, you bypass it completely. So now you come to the decision point. This junk decision junction in your life and you're trying to decide which way to go. Is it possible that you believe by faith and you take the right hand junction? [00:36:07] Okay. [00:36:08] And if you believe by faith and take the right injunction, then as you're going down that inner tube of life, you're gonna run right into the promise that I've given you because I place it right there. But is it also possible that when you get to that decision junction that you doubt? [00:36:27] And you end up going left instead of right. Sure. [00:36:32] Okay, so if you doubt you go left. Does that make. My God, my promise of giving you a gift null and void? In other words, did I lie to you? I told you I was going to give you this gift and you didn't get it. Did I lie? [00:36:52] No. What happened? [00:36:56] I chose the wrong path. [00:36:59] You acted by sight, not by faith. You acted in fear and doubt rather than by faith. And these decision junctions always come up in turbulent waters. And in almost all cases, the passive face looks like a raging waterfall and tumultuous rapids. And the task of doubt looks like calm water. Have you ever experienced that? [00:37:32] Yes. Yeah. Okay. So what we do in our natural is we go, oh, that can't be right. Right versus left. [00:37:42] That can't be correct. Right. That can't be correct. It's not going right. I must need to go left because how much easier it is. And God always asks us to do something bold and step out. Faith is living on the edge because faith is not living by sight, but living by God's word alone. It's doing what God says to do even when our naturalize say, that's crazy. And when we get to these decision junctions. [00:38:21] It is possible, I believe, to miss out on God's highest and blessed and greatest blessings for us in our lives because we choose the wrong path, because we make a decision by sight rather than decision by following him. And so this is that fork in the road. And let's read real quickly a couple other things. Go to first, Peter, 3 8. This is a passage that we're all probably familiar with. First, Peter, three, I just want to kind of illustrate what I think this passage is kind of saying. [00:39:04] All right. First, Peter, three verse eight, finally, all of you should be of one mind, sympathize with each other, love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tender hearted and keep a humble attitude. [00:39:20] First, Peter. [00:39:21] Maybe I am first here. [00:39:24] Okay, then maybe a second, Peter. But the one I was looking for is with the Lord. One day is a thousand years and years as one day. And just try to grasp that, because with the Lord being outside of time, you know, whether it's one inch or one centimeter, one foot on that timeline. He sees it all. There is no time within the Lord. [00:39:51] The time is only within our livelihood turn. One less, one less passage on this, James, 1, 6 and 7. [00:40:02] Saying. [00:40:05] All right, James. 1, 6 and 7. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. [00:40:28] Okay, so we get down to that decision junction. [00:40:33] Can you see how easy it is to start to waver left, right or left, right or left? We pray to God. What are your eyes telling you has to be the best solution. When you pray to God, what are your eyes telling you? [00:40:52] Whatever. The easiest path. [00:40:54] Easiest path, right. And sometimes God's word says. The right path, not the left path. And so this is when we start to waiver. What happens is if we waver too long, we pass right on by where we ought to be and we go down that path of doubt. And this is what I think James is kind of talking about when we get to these decision junctions, not to expect anything from the Lord if we don't fully trust him. The things that he gives us, he gives us by faith. Spirit realm overrules the physical realm. He gives us in the spirit realm first because it's outside of time. He places it in our future some place. But it's us going through our physical realm, making the choices of faith that lead us to that promise that's been given first in the spirit room and then it manifests in the physical. But if we doubt and waver, we end up taking the wrong choices and we totally bypass where the Lord had for us and those great blessing. That doesn't mean that he can't move that blessing down the line again, but it does mean that we're missing the best path for our lives. And that's this whole concept of the timeline and kind of how it works, the implications on this. I think it's several. We need to remain persistent and safe if we take that low definition we've been working on. [00:42:28] Faith is choosing. To believe an act on God's truth rather than choosing to act. On the reality of the natural, it will never make sense. And usually when we choose to act on God's truth, the natural is saying, don't do it, don't do it. It's nothing but danger and hardship. And yet God is saying, come on. Trust me, you won't believe the blessings that await you if you just trust me. Okay. And so we have to remain persistent in faith because when God has promised. His promise will come true if we persistent faith. Hebrews 10, 35 and 36 basically says don't throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. And he says once you have done the will of God, you'll receive what was promised. He's talking about this whole thing, that these promises are received by faith, just like just like salvation is received by faith. I think the second implication is stop asking. And start thinking about this. Have you ever been in a time in your life? Let's call it financial, because I think we all go through financial struggles. Have you ever been in a time in your life financially where you're almost pleading with the Lord, help us, help us. We're about to sink. We need help. Have you ever been kind of desperate stage? [00:44:08] Yes. [00:44:10] Prior to getting into that, has God's word promise that he will take care of you as long as you trust him? [00:44:19] Yeah. [00:44:20] Okay. So when we come into that state where his work says he'll take care of us. [00:44:25] And now we're pleading. Oh, my gosh, I'm about to sink. Is that. Pleading a prayer of faith for prayer site. [00:44:36] Definitely it's based. [00:44:39] The site is fear based because the devil wants us to believe what we see because we'll get afraid and God wants us to believe what he says. And it's totally two totally different things. One other implication of this whole timeline concept is realizing that we can't see what God sees. And if God is promised, then we need to stop asking. Or maybe I should say stop pleading. And start thinking now if we take the story of Alija and the rain. Okay, so this goes back to the time of the Kings. [00:45:25] Israel and Judah has broken and have broken up. Ahab is now king and Elijah has. He's up on Mount Carmel. And he's just finished killing all of the bill process because they prayed for far to come from God to light their sacrifice. And it didn't. Elijah prayed for God to. Bring far down and it totally sucked up and burned up all of the sacrifice, the stones, the water and everything else. So there's just been this great victory. And then Elijah tells Ahab. Hop on your chariot and go before the rains come and you get stuck in the rain and everything was dry and dusty. Elijah believed God that it was going to rain. [00:46:17] Follow me so far. So we're at the stage where a promise has been given. Elijah knows what's going to happen. But then what does Alija do? Do you remember what he does right after he tells? They have to hop in his chair and go. [00:46:33] I don't remember, he goes up and he bowed down and he prays and he tells his servant, look out over the horizon and tell me what you see. The servant comes back and says, I don't see anything. So what is Elijah do again? [00:46:48] He tells me to go back and look again. [00:46:52] That's right. Elijah prays again and says, go back and look. Elijah does that seven times until there's a little cloud the size of a man's hand. So here we have how we should operate. First off, let me ask you a question. Do you think Elijah believed rains were coming? [00:47:14] Yes. [00:47:15] Yes. Why did he pray? Was he pleading with God, please, Lord, please, we need the rains, please. Or do you think his prayer was something different? [00:47:27] I think his prayer was thanking, thanking God for the rain, just believing that it's coming. [00:47:34] Yes, it's a different level of prayer. Different type of prayer. It's a prayer of Lord. Send the range, according to your word. Because I know they're coming. I thank you in advance for those rains that are coming. That is what our prayers ought to be when we come before the Lord. Not a prayer of pleading and fear, but prayers of anticipation and thinking because we know God's word is true. And then the third implication is sort of like Yogi Berra, you hear these Yogi Berra saying when you come to a fork in the road, take it. I just see this physical fork sitting there. And when you come to when you come to a fork, take the fork and the knife also there's a knife. But in this case, when you come to that fork in the road of your life, that decision junction always take the fork of faith. Because that's the only way that you're going to receive these abundant blessings that God has for you. Now, his overriding grace will still bless you, even in your abundant blessings are only going to come when we take those forks of faith. [00:49:01] So that's the. [00:49:06] Any final thoughts or comments before we wrap up this call? [00:49:12] I was thinking when you were talking about the path and choosing the path, it's usually rockier. The one that the Lord has tends to sometimes in the natural look like the one that you don't want to be on. And I was thinking about myself included, but I know so many others tend to pray when they're going down that path or deliver me like deliver me from this storm. Please make this storm stop. It's just overwhelming me and whatever. And it just hit me that a lot of times women are praying to be delivered from that. If God were to answer that, then we would miss the promise that he had set out for us, because if we're praying to be delivered or removed from that situation, we're not gonna be on that path anymore. And we're going to miss that promise. [00:50:05] What you were just talking about, the God's already put out a sobering thought, especially at those storms are brought about as a test. We all go through a wilderness in our life. [00:50:18] And I would think if you zoom in and out of our life, there's like a little wilderness is the wilderness is a time of testing before we receive a blessing. There are times when we're being attacked and there's some discernment there. But I think the main thing with all of this is I remember one time I was going through some really tough times financially with the business and I was pleading with God. I was pleading because I was afraid almost to the point of tears. And that's a moat. And so for me to be almost the point of tears, it was really dramatic. And I remember the Lord speaking to me and just see my spirit and saying something along the lines of, do you not trust me? Taking care of you all these years. Do you really think I'm going to let you down now? It wasn't quite those words, but that was the gist of it. And it really kind of shook me and I thought, you're right, I need to be. Acting in faith and not in fear, and I think that's the junction we come to the forks in the road. Which way are we going to act? Because Peter walking on the water, so long as he acted. Taking the fork of faith, he walked on the water. As he took the fork of sight and fear, he sunk. He missed out on God's greatest blessings for him. At that moment in his life, because he acted in fear. And that's the whole thing here, is it's all part of that timeline and which way you go. [00:52:03] Oh, well, Beatty, I think we're about out of time. This is great. Today, I really appreciated this talk. And just hear your insight and your wisdom on this subject. P011 [00:52:15] It was wonderful. [00:52:16] I appreciate that. All right. Well, until next time, we'll see you guys later. [00:52:22] All right. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

What is in a name? The Judeo-Christian God has many names to describe Him. One name in particular, not only describes who He is, but what He is. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is debating with the Pharisees. He tells them that Father Abraham longed to see the day he came into the world. They joked that Jesus wasn't even 40 years old. So, how how could He even know Abraham? Jesus answered: "Before Abraham was, I AM!" They immediately picked up rocks to stone Him to death on the charge of blasphemy in the highest degree. He used the most holy of all God's names to describe Himself. Come this Sunday as we study Exodus 3, to find out what His name means and see what happened when Moses ran into the "The Great I AM".

Before Abraham Was Born "I AM" Here we explore John 8:31-59 as we hear Jesus Proclaim His Deity to all in the temple. Join your host, Mark Kublank each week for biblical christian topics. Next week we continue the in the book of John where Jesus states "Before Abraham was" " I AM". Resources Include: English Standard Bible New American Standard Bible MacArthur Study Bible (NASB) Moody Bible Commentary Blue letter bible (app) Visit us on: Facebook - www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100036359984733 Instagram - www.instagram.com/galatians25christiantalk/ Email - galatians2v5@gmail.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/galatians25chriatiantalk/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/galatians25chriatiantalk/support

"I AM" The Light Of The World Here we explore John 8:12-30 as we hear the second of seven "I AM" statements from Jesus. Join your host, Mark Kublank each week for biblical christian topics. Next week we continue the in the book of John where Jesus states "Before Abraham was" " I AM". Resources Include: English Standard Bible New American Standard Bible MacArthur Study Bible (NASB) Moody Bible Commentary Blue letter bible (app) Visit us on: Facebook - www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100036359984733 Instagram - www.instagram.com/galatians25christiantalk/ Email - galatians2v5@gmail.com --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/galatians25chriatiantalk/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/galatians25chriatiantalk/support

Mark 14:61-65 “But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I AM,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned Him as worthy of death.Then some began to spit at Him; they blindfolded Him, struck Him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took Him and beat Him.”He is the: I AM the Bread of Life.I AM the Resurrection and the Life.I AM the Light of the World.Before Abraham was born I AM!I AM the Gate.I AM the Way.It is vital that we understand and accept that He is the Living Word.John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”Two vital questions that must be dealt with: “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Because this changes everything for the world. “What do you think?”Because this changes everything for you.

In today's episode of Finding His Voice we cover the genealogy of the children of Israel, and the cites and lands that they inhabited. Jesus is being tested by the Pharisees in the temple and he tells them that Abraham rejoiced at coming of Jesus. The Pharisees said, You are not yet 50 years old, how could you have seen Abraham? Jesus replied, Before Abraham was, I am. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/testimonies/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/testimonies/support

If a person wants to go ahead with something significant they have to start off with an idea, and how it is going to work and what is the intention for doing it.The Logos was the Word, from the mind of God, the big idea which spoke all of creation into being for his own purpose and intention and which now sustains and upholds all of creation with that Word of power. That Word from that thought, is Jesus, the Logos made flesh. That was and is God’s big idea. That is what gives our lives meaning and purpose.God knows the design and purpose for every particle of matter in the universe and he has set that in motion. That includes his big idea for us, to see him in our minds - ordering our hearts and minds to respond with trust and faith in every circumstance, difficult or favourable, that faces us. We have a known past, a challenging present and an uncertain future. According to how we think and what we think, we are creating a better or a worse future.It is natural for a person’s mind to dwell on the challenges and problems of the present moment, or the things of the past, and the apprehension for the future. Those thoughts are always accompanied by an emotion. But our minds need to be wrapped up in the big idea, the lifechanging idea that gives our lives true meaning no matter what the past or present looks like. That big idea of Logos can sit above every other thought and disengage the negative emotion from every other negative or problematic thought.Many have promised a better future for whoever will believe their ideas or their ideology for a better world.1Corinthians 14:10 There are so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without significance.Jesus predicted that people would be swamped by a multitude of deceptive big ideas.John 5:43 you do not receive me but there is another who will come in his own name whom you will receive… We are living in a time when many people want to believe in anything new that might promise an idealistic future with more personal benefits. But many have not learned history or learned from history the struggles to achieve good and Godly government, and so personal discontent can open them up to false hopes in mistaken big ideas and ideologies. That is how Marxism was received and believed by millions upon millions of people who were and still are being destroyed by its principles.Jesus brought the most radical new idea that mankind had ever heard of. The mind of God with a magnificent big idea for everyone - And the spiritual battle is for the mind of man – The trophy is the heart of man. He said he was the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End’. He said ‘I am the way the truth and the life’ and ‘I am the light of the world’ and ‘Before Abraham was, I am’ and ‘I am the true vine and you are the branches and my Father is the husbandman’ and ‘I am the good shepherd’ and ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ and ‘I am the bread of life’. That was from the mind of Logos -The Big Idea that delivers truth and salvation.So we base our hopes upon what we know and we become very serious about what we think.We need to know why we think what we think? Proverbs 23.7 As he thinks in his heart so is he.We let the seed of that Big Idea grow in our hearts and multiply its fruit in our lives. Psalm 72:6 There will be a handful of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains. Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth            

Jesus says, “Before Abraham was, I am”. A sermon for the 5th Sunday in Lent (Passion Sunday). From John chapter 8. The post I AM – 5th Sunday in Lent 2019 appeared first on St. Matthias Anglican Church.

God called Abraham to go beyond his walls. Before Abraham could see what God wanted to go through him, he had to let Lot go. You cannot drag your past with you to our destiny. Abraham in vision saw his seed go beyond the walls of his own kindred. We must have a vision for the seed we are sowing, else it is wasted. Do you have the faith and the courage to go beyond your walls? 

The Lord Jesus Christ is God. He is co-equal with the Father. He was not created, but He created all things. Jesus said and did some shocking things when He came to earth. He received the worship of His followers. He forgave sins. He said things like this, “I and the Father are one” and “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father,” and “Before Abraham was, “I am.” The religious leaders of His day tried to kill him repeatedly because they believed He was blaspheming God. He was beyond a shadow of a doubt declaring that He is God, and yet He humbled Himself, submitting to His Father's will. He taught us to follow His example and to obey Him even as we would obey the Father.

Ego Eimi means "I Am" in GreekJesus Is: The Bread of LifeScripture: John 6:35 (John 6:22-69)Absolute “I AM” statements: John 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 18:5John 6:20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. John 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. John 18:5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.Bread is NECESSARY food. Other things may be dispensed with, but all need bread, All need it — old and young, weak and strong. We NEED IT DAILY and Hunger a Sign of Health.Song: Ikson - Paradise (Vlog No Copyright Music) Music promoted by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: https://youtu.be/glMhD3EU46k

Ego Eimi means "I Am" in GreekJesus Is: The Bread of LifeScripture: John 6:35 (John 6:22-69)Absolute “I AM” statements: John 6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 18:5John 6:20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins. John 8:28 Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. John 18:5 They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.Bread is NECESSARY food. Other things may be dispensed with, but all need bread, All need it — old and young, weak and strong. We NEED IT DAILY and Hunger a Sign of Health.Song: Ikson - Paradise (Vlog No Copyright Music) Music promoted by Vlog No Copyright Music. Video Link: https://youtu.be/glMhD3EU46k

Listen as Pastor Blake discusses one of the most powerful statements Jesus makes about himself, Before Abraham, I AM.

Jesus Christ is the secret that God has been keeping since before time began!! Before Calvary, Before Joseph & Mary, Before Abraham, Before Moses, Before the Garden of Eden the Godhead has had a plan and its all revealed in ONE KISS!!!!Support the show (http://paypal.me/scripturesrevealed)

Pastor Miles DeBenedictis John 8:47-53 “I Am Before Abraham” https://storage.googleapis.com/ccchurch_media/20180722_430847.mp3 MP3 Download | Download Sermon Guide PDF The post I Am #3 – “Before Abraham…” appeared first on Cross Connection Church.

Pastor Dave Frye 06/24/2018 The Great I AM From the very beginning, God wanted mankind to know who He was. He consistently revealed Himself and His nature throughout the Scriptures in word and deed. God told Moses to tell the children of Israel that "I Am" sent him.  In the New Testament, we learn that Jesus is "I AM". Today we will discuss Jesus 7 "I Am" statements. The implication of what Jesus was saying when he said, "Before Abraham was, I Am" infuriated the Jewish leaders because they knew that He just made the claim that He was God.

Most people in the world have their own opinions of who Jesus was and, quite frankly, most of them are positive. He was a “good man.” He was “one of the best teachers this world has ever seen.” He was a “great social reformer” or “the best example of a loving person in the history of the human race.” Those are all true. But, do they go far enough? What if we were to listen to what Jesus said about himself? How did He identify himself? Jesus said things about himself that were bold, even audacious. But, probably none was as bold, as audacious, and as polarizing as what He proclaimed in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, I Am!” Wow! How did the people respond to that claim? Please join us as we delve into the gripping story of John 8:31-59.

Sunday Morning Handouts   Jesus once said, "Before Abraham was, I am." This is a quotation of the Old Testament. In light of the OT scriptures this phrase takes on enitrely new dimensions of meaning!   The Bible as Story, John, Exodus

Before Abraham was Abraham by Grace Meridian Hill

“Before Abraham was, I AM” John 8:48-59 July 2, 2017 Licentiate Aaron Suber        ----more---- John 8:48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.   True disciples abide in my word (31-28)   You will serve your father (39-47)   Accusation and doubt (48-52)   Before Abraham was I AM (53-59)

I love a good courtroom drama. Whether it is To Kill a Mockingbird, The 12 Angry Men, Anatomy of a Murder, or one of my all-time favorites The Caine Mutiny.  But the greatest legal drama is the trial of Jesus. It is just as moving as those mentioned above but with one big difference. The trial of Jesus actually happened. Jesus was accused, He was tried, He was sentenced, and He was executed.   Your Takeaway Jesus was in control of His suffering. Jesus suffered because He allowed it to happen. Arrest John 18:1-11 Jesus knows all things because Jesus is God. John 18:4 The men fell when Jesus spoke because Jesus will be worshiped. John 18:5-6; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10 There are eight "I am" statements in the gospel of John. See the Resources section for a list. Trial One John 18:12-14; 18:19-24 Jesus was taken to Annas' house. Annas was no longer the High Priest. But Annas held the power. Jesus was slapped because He questioned the legality of Annas' trial. John 18:20-21 Trial Two Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin could not come up with a charge. Matthew 26:57-60a Jesus did claim to be the Messiah. Mark 14:60-65 In Luke 22:60-65, why was Jesus in the courtyard? To be beaten.  Trial Three Matthew 27:1-2 This trial was a legal trial because it was held in the daytime. Closing Thoughts Jesus was abused because Jesus allowed it. Why was He abused? To bring glory to God and for your sin and my sin. Everyone has a relationship with the crucifixion. We relate to it in one of two ways. One is that we disregard the crucifixion as something unimportant to us. We reject this sacrifice. It is not meaningful to us. Or, two, the crucifixion is personal. We accept that Jesus died for our sin. We trust in the finished work of Christ. Which do you hold? Careful with your answer because your answer determines your eternity. Reject Christ and spend eternity in hell separated from God. Accept Christ and spend eternity in heaven with God. Sign Up & Subscribe Sign up for our show notes. When you sign up, you receive an email notification and a copy of the show notes whenever a new episode is released. Just CLICK HERE and sign up today! Subscribe to Faith in the Valley. You can subscribe at iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, TuneIn, and many other podcast apps. And we are now on iHeartRadio! Subscribing on one of these apps is the best way to listen. If you live in a country that tries to block Christian podcasts, here is a link to our RSS feed. You may be able to use our RSS to get the podcast. Finally, feel free to contact us with any question. You can contact us by clicking HERE or going to www.wakefieldbible.org/contact-us/. I would especially love to hear from you if you believed on Jesus. Resources The "I am" Statements of Jesus John 6:35, 48 I am the bread of life John 8:12, 9:5 I am the light of the world John 8:58 Before Abraham was, I am John 10:9 I am the door John 10:11 I am the good shepherd John 11:25 I am the resurrection and the life John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life John 15:1 I am the true vine The Illegal, Unjust Trials of Jesus, Part 1 by John MacArthur The Illegal, Unjust Trials of Jesus, Part 2 by John MacArthur  

Before Abraham was, I AM.

Before Abraham was...I AM. Find out how the ancient name of God - YAHWEH was revealed in the life of Jesus. See how it is applicable for each of us today!

John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Jesus is Who He says He is. "Before Abraham was, I AM."

Before Abraham was 'I AM' (21 Feb 2016) by Servant's Church

A MP3 sermon from Berean Sovereign Grace Church is now available on SalvationinChristAlone.com with the following details: Title: BSGC # 75 Before Abraham was I AM Speaker: James Guyo Broadcaster: Berean Sovereign Grace Church Event: Sunday Service Date: Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT Bible: John 8 vs 48-59 Length: 1:18:08 min. (96kbps) Overview: Add later

This begins a two-part series (within a larger series) examining Yeshua's statement, "Before Abraham was born, I am." (John 8:58 NASB) Who was Yeshua claiming to be? Is he the I am of Exodus 3:14? In this lesson, I cover Exodus 3:14 as well as other texts in John's Gospel where Yeshua uses the words "I am," leading up to John 8:58.

“Before Abraham, I am.” What did Jesus, or the author of the fourth gospel, mean here? In this episode we hear how some ancient authors interpreted John 8:58, including the famous North African bishop Augustine of Hippo.

John Duns Scotus (d. 1308), nicknamed by tradition "the Subtle Doctor," was one of the most important medieval Christian philosophers, and was notorious for the difficulty of his thought. In this episode, we hear a specialist in medieval philosophy give a conference presentation on Scotus's views on identity (sameness) and distinction (difference). Nowadays most philosophers and logicians recognize qualitative sameness (aka similarity), which comes in degrees, and numerical sameness (aka numerical or absolute identity), which doesn't come in degrees, and which is a symmetrical, transitive, and reflexive relation. This latter, numerical identity, is a relation which a thing can only bear to itself. If these are all we have to work with, then we get apparent contradictions from trinitarian claims. For instance, consider this triad of claims: The Father is God. The Son is God. The Father is not the same as the Son. If the Father is numerically identical to God (1), and so is the Son (2), then it follows (because the relation is symmetrical and transitive), that the Father and Son are numerically identical. (So, 3 is false) The above three claims, so understood, are an inconsistent triad - if any two are true, the remaining claim is false. But arguably, the "Athanasian Creed" requires them all. That is, interpreting the above triad in terms of numerical identity, there would be this valid argument: f = g s = g g = s (from 2, symmetricality) f= s (from 1 and 3, by transitivity) But 4 is a disastrous conclusion. We know that a thing can't, at the same time and in the same way, differ from itself. But according to the New Testament, the Father and Son have differed. To put it differently, numerical sameness forces indiscernibility. If any A just is some B, then A and B can't differ in the smallest way. But the Father and Son do differ, and so they must be non-identical, which is to say, numerically distinct. What does it mean to say, then, that each of them "is God." Perhaps the statements simply mean that each is divine, that each has the divine attributes or a divine nature. Father and Son would then be not numerically identical, but rather similar - that is, like one another, in respect of being divine. But then we have two beings, each of which is divine; this would appear to be two gods. What now? One response is to make additional distinctions, to argue that our concepts of numerical and qualitative sameness are not enough. This is the course pursued by John Duns Scotus. He holds that we must consider sameness and difference both in the mind, and as it were "on the side of things" in the world, and then he goes on to make further distinctions, which he thinks are relevant not only to theology, but also to more general metaphysics. Our presenter is Dr. Joshua Blander, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at The King's College in New York City. His paper is called "Being the Same without Being the Same: Duns Scotus on Identity and Distinction." Here is his handout from the presentation, which will help you to follow along. You can also listen to this episode on stitcher or itunes (please subscribe and rate us in either or both).  If you would like to upload audio feedback for possible inclusion in a future episode of this podcast, put the audio file here. Links for this episode: Dr. Joshua Blander John Duns Scotus at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy at the Franciscan Archive previous  trinities posts on identity on the indiscernibility of identicals (and another) on the minority view in present-day philosophy that there can be numerical sameness without identity pro con episodes on "Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58): episode 62, episode 63 The Apostolic Fathers

"Before Abraham was, I was already, in God's plan, the Messiah."

Does the fourth gospel teach that Jesus existed long before his conception, even before the creation of the cosmos? Most readers think so. But in this episode Dr. Dustin Smith argues that rightly understood, this gospel neither assumes nor teaches that Jesus "preexisted," that is, existed before he was a human. He argues that we should read the gospel according to John in light of Jewish assumptions about human beings and the Messiah, taking care to understand the author's distinctive language and his "misunderstanding motif." We discuss a number of passages which people often read as implying Jesus's preexistence, including John 1 ("In the beginning was the Word..." and "he was before me"), John 3 ("the one who descended"), John 6 ("ascending to where he was before"), John 8 ("Before Abraham was, I am."), John 16 "I came from the Father and have come into the world"), and John 17 ("the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed..."). This discussion builds on episode 61, in which Dr. Smith explains the Jewish habit of describing important things like the Messiah, the Torah, or the Garden of Eden as having existed before creation. You can also listen to this episode (and all others) on youtube (scroll down), stitcher, or itunes (please rate us there). Dr. Smith's blog: Dustin Martyr Blog “The Nature of Preexistence in the Gospel of John: A Case Study of John 8:58 and 17:5? (pp. 45-61)

I AM FROM ABOVEJohn 8:23 “And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.”This is one of those Scriptures that the Pharisees had such a problem with.  They were confused at this point.  The problem of where Jesus came from is settled once-and-for-all with this statement.  But just like unsaved religious leaders today, they buried their heads in the sand.  There is no way to explain what the Lord says in this statement.THE COMPARISONS OF ORIGINThe first thing that Jesus said to them was, “Ye are from beneath.” Their origin made all the difference in the world.  To be “from beneath” means that your origin is in this world and all your thoughts are from beneath.  Satan rules the kingdom that is from beneath. John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."Think about it.  Jesus said, “Ye are from beneath.” What did Jesus mean when He said this?  What the text actually says is, “ego eimi”.  This is the same as when Jesus said, “I am.” Jesus is the eternal God without beginning and without end.  He has incarnated Himself into man in order to save him from the eternal punishment of hell.A verse that carries this further is 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" He roams the world to find someone that he can influence and cause to kill and give oneself to lust.  The way to overcome Satan is to “Be sober, and vigilant” the reason is because you have an adversary that will bring you down if he can. 1 Peter 5:9, "Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."THE ORIGIN FROM ABOVEJesus said, “I am from above.” the word could refer to either place or time, (i.e. place, the Jerusalem which is above in the heavens, or time the eternal Jerusalem which preceded the earthly one).Jesus clearly knew where He was from.  There have been many who have suggested that Christ did not know that He was the Messiah.  Some suggested that this calling came on Him at His baptism.  Bible believers believe that Jesus knew before He was born that He would come into the world as Saviour. John 8:58, "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."  This places Jesus before Abraham at the time He was speaking.  We know all God wants us to know.  But God is omniscient.  This means that there is more to God's knowledge than we will ever find out.  It is enough to know that the Omniscient God of our salvation loves us and has written our names in the Lamb's book of life never to be erased.This is the Lord's prayer in John 17.  He prayed in verse 5: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." For this prayer to be true, Jesus had to exist with the Father before the world was.THE CONTRAST OF PLACESJesus said, “Ye are from beneath.”  “Those that live in unbelief, are for ever undone, if they die in unbelief. The Jews belonged to this present evil world, but Jesus was of a heavenly and Divine nature, so that his doctrine, kingdom, and blessings, would not suit their taste. But the curse of the law is done away to all that submit to the grace of the gospel. Nothing but the doctrine of Christ's grace will be an argument powerful enough, and none but the Spirit of Christ's grace will be an agent powerful enough, to turn us from sin to God; and that Spirit is given, and that doctrine is given, to work upon those only who believe in Christ. Some say, Who is this Jesus? They allow him to have been a Prophet, an excellent Teacher,

The Gospel reading for today's Eucharist is a favorite of mine, not only because of the mess Jesus got himself out of, but because of something he said. A basic principle is well-known to UFO enthusiasts and paranormal researchers, and theologians, clergy and everyone else would do well to pay attention: when something is said that people of the time could not have understood, pay attention! The tachyon particle was not even theorized until 1967, and the possibility of something existing outside of time was suggested by Einstein in the early 20th century, long after Jesus taught in the Temple. And when he did, he said "Before Abraham was, I am"!

BUT WE SEE JESUSHeb.  2:9 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."The inspired writer goes from angels to Christ.  He states that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.  The angels do not die.  Jesus did, and by doing this, He tasted death for every man.  For Him to do such a great thing brings to light some important things.  In what way do we see Jesus?WE SEE HIM AS GOD'S EQUALJohn 1:3, "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." 0ur Bible begins with: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Now the inspired writer says, “all things were made by Him,” and to drive a nail in a sure place Inspiration says, “And without him was not anything made that was made.” The meaning is clear enough to credit Jesus with the creation of all things.  This would certainly make Him God's equal.Then again as Jesus is described by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost, Hebrews 1:3 says, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" The description of Jesus in this verse, there can be no doubt that Jesus is being set forth as God's equal.  He is introduced by the words, “Who being the brightness of his glory.” The word “being” translates “eimi” i.e., “I am.” It is the same “to be” verb that is use to express “I am” when the Textus Receptus identifies Jesus as Jehovah of the Old Testament. John  +8:58, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.”The “I am” in this verse translates “ego eimi,” and is the same as God spoke to Moses saying in Exodus  +3:14, "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."Jesus us God's equal.  Next,WE SEE HIM IN GREAT POVERTY2 Corinthians 8:9, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich."It would be hard to explain the place from which Jesus came and compare it to the place to which He came.  Suffice it to say that there is no greater condescension than that Jesus made when He came from the glory of heaven to the poverty of this earth.  The riches of heaven were laid aside and the robe of a pauper were taken up.  He said in Matthew 8:20, “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” The words “became poor” aches to say more than its limited definition will allow.  We see Jesus in great poverty.  Next,WE SEE HIM IN DEEP SORROWIsaiah 53:3 6, "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."He is truly a man of sorrows.  Is it possible for Jesus to stoop below the greatest of sorrows and lift them to the place where they can't operate?  There will be no sorrows in heaven.  The reason is that Jesus “carried our sorrows” to the place where they lose their power to afflict the saints, and are sent to the region of the damned where they will continue to exercise their torments upon the eternally lost.  Next,

How can we speak of Jesus before Jesus? We can if we realize that our Lord, as the 2nd Person of the Trinity, being fully God in all aspects, existed long before Bethlehem. That’s what our Lord meant in John 8:58: “Before Abraham was born, I am.” He was claiming eternal existence with God the Father.

Each of the four Gospels is unique. Matthew is written from a perspective that proves Jesus is the Messiah. Mark is written from a brief, action-packed perspective, showing that Jesus is the Servant-Savior. Luke is written from a historical perspective, very detailed, and focused on Jesus’ humanity. More than 90% of John’s gospel isn’t mentioned in the other gospels. There is no genealogy, no record of Jesus’ birth, transfiguration, temptation. There is no record of the appointment of the apostles. There is no account of Jesus’ parables, no ascension. But what John recorded for us is a profound unfolding of Jesus’ divinity, even from the first verse. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Just in the first chapter, Jesus is described by six names. • The Word – (1:1, 14) • The Light – (1:5, 9) • The One and Only – (1:14) • The Lamb of God – (1:29) • The Son of God – (1:34) • The King of Israel – (1:49) There are only eight recorded miracles in John, six of them unique to the gospel. Each one is recorded to demonstrate an aspect of Jesus deity or authority. Jesus’ true identity is described by the titles he is given, specifically by who he said he is. • I am the bread of life (6:35) • I am the light of the world (8:12; 9:5) • I am the gate (10:7) • I am the good shepherd (10:11, 14) • I am the resurrection and the life (11:25) • I am the way, the truth, and the life (14:6) • I am the true vine (15:1) • I am (8:58) John 8:48-59 v. 48 – “Samaritan” may be saying he was no better than a Samaritan because they thought he was lax in following the law. Or they may have been suggesting that his father was Samaritan. “Demon possessed” trying to discredit him? V. 49 “I honor my Father” Jesus, over and again in John says, I only do what I see my Father doing. I only say what my Father has given me. I only judge and give life because my Father has given me that authority. Always honoring, glorifying his Father. v. 50 “There is one who seeks my glory” the Father glorifies the Son, specifically through the resurrection. v. 51 “if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death” over and over John records Jesus as eternal. He is the life. But not only is he life, but he shares his life with men who will believe in him. v. 52-53 “[they’re] all dead” “who do you think you are?” v. 54 “my Father glorifies me” v. 55 “I know him and keep his word” Jesus is the only One who truly knows God and truly kept his word. v. 56 “Abraham rejoiced at my day.” God told Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed (Gen 12:1-7; 15:1-21). Abraham saw this through the eyes of faith. Jesus, a descendant of Abraham blessed all nations through his life, death, resurrection, and offer of salvation. v. 57 “You have seen Abraham?” v. 58 “Before Abraham was born, I am” Jesus emphatically declared the same thing God had said about himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14. Jesus expressed the eternity of his being and his oneness with the Father. “I am eternal.” “I am one with the Father.” All the gospel writers had a difficult task. How do you capture the life, death, resurrection of Jesus? How do you write about his authority, his glory, his teaching? John 20:30-31 Imagine trying to describe the majesty, glory, and humanity of Jesus. How would you do it? What would you say? How has Jesus revealed to you that he is “I am.”

2011-08-21-1030 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this morning August 21st 2011 in the 10:30 service. Scripture: John 8:56-59; 16:24; I Corinthians 1:30-31; Micah 7:18-20 Topic: God the Father Notes: - There is no limit to what God can do; “Before Abraham was, I AM”- God will not let you define who he is- Jehovah means “I AM”- The ever present one; eternity has nothing to do with time; God doesn’t deal in the past; God is the eternal present- Where there is sorrow, misery, heartache, suffering, confusion... there is Jesus- God longs to help us; He is waiting on the invitation- I AM that I AM... nothing breaks that eternal circle except human need; He becomes whatever you need- Because of God you are in Christ Jesus; God made Jesus to become sin so that we could be righteous- Man wants to take credit for his salvation; Glory only in God- It pleased the Lord for us to ask Him for things- God is not surprised by your sin; some have committed such sin that they don’t know where they are with God... God understands; as long as you call on the name of the Lord, there is cleansing- It’s not about feeling anything but about trusting what He said

2011-08-21-0830 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this morning August 21st 2011 in the 8:30 service. Scripture: John 8:56-59; 16:24; I Corinthians 1:30-31; Micah 7:18-20 Topic: God the Father Notes: - There is no limit to what God can do; “Before Abraham was, I AM”- God will not let you define who he is- Jehovah means “I AM”- The ever present one; eternity has nothing to do with time; God doesn’t deal in the past; God is the eternal present- Where there is sorrow, misery, heartache, suffering, confusion... there is Jesus- God longs to help us; He is waiting on the invitation- I AM that I AM... nothing breaks that eternal circle except human need; He becomes whatever you need- Because of God you are in Christ Jesus; God made Jesus to become sin so that we could be righteous- Man wants to take credit for his salvation; Glory only in God- It pleased the Lord for us to ask Him for things- God is not surprised by your sin; some have committed such sin that they don’t know where they are with God... God understands; as long as you call on the name of the Lord, there is cleansing- It’s not about feeling anything but about trusting what He said

Fall 09 #1 - Before Abraham was I AM Brady Bobbink

APOSTLE TALK - Future News Now WWW.REALMIRACLES.ORG   Prince Handley President / Regent University of Excellence   TIME, ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE, AND TRUE RELATIONSHIPS INCLUDING A FUTURE PROPHECY ~ A MIRACLE PODCAST PRODUCTION ~ You can listen to this message NOW. Click on the pod circle at top left. (Allow images to display.)  Or, Listen NOW >  LISTEN HERE     24/7 release of Prince Handley teachings, BLOGS and podcasts > STREAM Text: “follow princehandley” to 40404 (in USA) Or, Twitter: princehandley   ______________________________________________________  PROPHECY: Ideas develop an explosion of knowledge. In the last days, knowledge attained by God’s people will be used to flood the earth with prophetical insight in relation to current news by both legal and illegal methods to help deliver people from governmental and geopolitical bondage (including political correctness) so that they can find the TRUTH in Messiah Yeshua (Jesus).   TIME, ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE, AND TRUE RELATIONSHIPS   MUSIC / INTRO In the area of quantum physics, time and relationship is of primal importance. Many theories relating to time have been developed over the years. Probably the most famous is that developed by Albert Einstein: the theory of relativity. I read his work as a young boy. The derived formula "E = mc2," or "energy equals mass times the velocity of light squared," was praised for decades as the frontier of thought in this area; however, scientific postulation and research has leaned toward discrediting part, if not all, of this theory UNTIL recently. At The University of Excellence, we study how new frontiers in time and space, along with new postulations in string theory by cosmologists-physicists such as Brian Greene, push even unbelieving scientists to wonder what was before the "Big Bang." Jules Verne was the co-founder of science fiction along with H.G. Wells. He wrote about airplanes, submarines, and spacecraft. Verne's most popular stories include From the Earth to the Moon (1865), A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Robur the Conqueror. H.G. Wells was an English novelist who wrote more than 50 novels. Some of his writings were The Time Machine (1895), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898). He wrote about videocassette players, computers, overcrowded cities, superhighways, television, military airplanes, tanks, and about cities being bombed. He also wrote about space flight. The basic principles of the time machine which Wells wrote about contained materials regarding time as the fourth dimension. Later, in the 20th Century, Albert Einstein published his theory of the four-dimensional continuum of space time. Embodied in Einstein's theory was the premise that if you could travel at the velocity of light (186,000 miles per second) you could attain "timelessness." It's interesting to reflect upon the fact that Messiah Jesus is THE LIGHT … and He is timeless. He is the Alpha and the Omega: the Beginning and the End. He can travel at the VELOCITY OF LIGHT or faster. When He returns to redeem Israel and establish His kingdom, He will appear as the "lightning from the east to the west." "For as the lightning comes out of the east and shines even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matthew 24:27) Jesus told the Pharisees, "Before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58) MUSIC Scientific ideas and exploration, such as Einstein's theory of relativity, have developed since science fiction writing appeared. Many scientists have probably gleaned IDEAS from these writings. Arthur C. Clarke was the inventor of communication satellites. He first explored this idea in a 1945 technical paper titled "Extraterrestrial Relays." Clarke also wrote the three Odyssey sequels. Many times Clarke has guessed well ahead of time new scientific advances and sociological change. It is interesting to note that he said the following: "I am sure we would not have had men on the moon if it had not been for Wells and Verne and the people who write about this and made people think about it. I am rather proud of the fact that I know several astronauts who became astronauts through reading my books." We are living in a world of accelerating change, and of an explosion of knowledge: knowledge and change so advanced and different than that of even recent decades. In Daniel Chapters 10, 11, and 12, the Bible tells us of a vision encounter that the prophet Daniel had with a holy angel, a "watcher messenger" from God. In that vision was revealed to Daniel actual events that were to happen historically in Persia (Iran) and Greece and later in the end times and the great tribulation period soon to come. MUSIC The angel told Daniel, "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." (Daniel 12:4) We are living in a day like the prophet Daniel described where "knowledge shall be increased" and we should take advantage of it to advance the kingdom of God. Daniel, in a passage of scripture dealing with the end times, tells us "… but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits." (Daniel 11:32) Exploit, in the sense used here, means literally "to do successively unfolding bold, courageous works." There are many ways to influence society, to build your relationships, to reach the world for Christ, and to help yourself. Pray and ask God to reveal these to you. Then obey Him and be diligent to study in order to prepare yourself to be better used by the Master: to be a good steward! To make MAXIMUM usage of our TIME, and thereby take advantage of the INCREASE of KNOWLEDGE, we need to exercise: Creativity, Planning, and Good decision making. You are the master of your time. You are NOT a slave to a schedule. There is ENOUGH time to do what God wants you to do! The One Who is the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, has given you ENOUGH TIME to do what He wants you to do. Your job is to find out - to determine - WHAT He wants you to do. This is arrived at by spending daily time in Bible reading, prayer, meditation, and from time-to-time fasting. Know WHAT you want to do (that is, what God wants you to do); and, Plan HOW to do it. You also need to determine how to profit from your leisure, or non-work, time. Is watching TV a profitable experience for you? Sometime it is: if you are relaxing, or learning, or being inspired. But the next day ask yourself, "In what way did I profit from watching TV yesterday?" If you determine that you did not profit from that experience, then change your life style. Spend your non-work time creating, praying, building your mind, body, and spirit; also, listening and playing. Also, do NOT put off plans or experiences because of TIME. Jump in! If God wants you to do it, then take the TIME. God will make a way for you to do what He wants you to do, but YOU have to INITIATE the action with FAITH. REMEMBER:        If your plans fit into God's plans ...               you will have God's faith ...                      and God's faith always works! MUSIC Time and relationships are interrelated. You only have so much time QUANTITY in this life; but you can determine the relationship QUALITY! Your life, your marriage, your ministry, your business, and your relationships are either: Surviving, Dying, or Growing. Learn to OPEN UP, GIVE UP, and LOOK UP. OPEN UP - "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16) GIVE UP - "… let us lay aside every weight (hindrance), and the sin which does so easily beset us (or slow is down in the race), and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)        There are five big hindrances to relationships that we need to give up: Silent treatment (not talking or communicating); Threatening to walk out; Sarcasm; Blaming the other person or people; Unhealthy (other) relationships. LOOK UP - "If you are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God. Set your affection (interests) on things above, not on things on the earth." (Colossians 3:1-2) Larry Crabb, in his book Men and Women says, "The greatest obstacle to building truly good relationships is justified self-centeredness." (With the emphasis being on the word "justified.") Paul Harvey, the well known Christian news commentator, tells in one of his programs ("The Rest of the Story") about a man who had just purchased a new car: a brand he had always wanted. His wife borrowed the car one day soon after he had purchased it. She was involved in an accident with another vehicle that day. She was so discouraged, anxious and scared, knowing that her husband really liked the car. When she opened the insurance papers to trade information with the other driver, she read a note her husband had placed in them before-time which said: "Honey, in case of an accident, it's you I love, not the car!" As in making maximum use of our time, so building relationships takes: Creativity, Planning, and Good decision making. Just as Jesus is the LIGHT in time and travel, so He is the LIGHT in relationships. Let His light shine through you in these last days before He returns. Take advantage of the knowledge explosion in these last days to magnify and reflect HIS LIGHT to every people, tribe, language and ethnic group of the world! P.S. - If you want to prepare for EXCELLENCE in world changing service - in leadership, synagogue or church growth, and outreach - register for The University of Excellence (next class starting Spring, 2019). Email for information: universityofexcellence@gmail.com. Baruch haba b'Shem Adonai. Your friend, Prince Handley President / Regent University of Excellence Prince Handley Books MUSIC Podcast time: 14 minutes, 20 seconds (with music) ___________________________ Rabbinical & Biblical Studies The Believers’ Intelligentsia Prince Handley Portal (1,000’s of FREE resources) Prince Handley Books DONATE   A TAX DEDUCTIBLE RECEIPT WILL BE SENT TO YOU __________________________